Snow removal in Montreal

Snow removal in Montreal, Quebec, is an annual process to clear roads, sidewalks, and other parts of Montreal, Quebec to make it easier and safer to travel.[1] The snow removal process in Montreal is among the largest in the world,[2] with the budget for the 2019–2020 season reported at C$166.4 million and the budget for the 2020–2021 season reported at C$179.7 million.[2][3][4] Montreal sees about 423 centimeters of snowfall annually with nearly a third of the year having at least a centimeter of snow on the ground.[5]

A horse-drawn snowplow which appears to be clearing a hockey rink in Montreal.

In a given year, the city removes 300,000 truckloads of snow, representing 10,000 kilometers of city streets. 3,000 workers are employed as part of the effort.[6][7]

History
An early example of a tractor-driven snow-plow in Montreal, likely from the 1920s. Similar vehicles were in use to clear highways around the city until 1935.
A Sicard snowblower, invented for use clearing snow in Montreal.

Snow in Montreal was originally cleared by hand, using shovels and pickaxes.[8] By the mid-19th century, horse-drawn plows were used to assist snow clearing efforts. With the introduction of the automobile in the early 20th century, public streets were cleared with automobile-attached plows, and by the 1920s track-driven vehicles were used for plowing.

The population of Montreal tripled between 1880 and 1927, leading to increased demand for improved snow removal techniques.[8] Arthur Sicard, a Montreal-based inventor, introduced the snowblower in 1925 to assist the effort.[9] Named the "Sicard Snow Remover Snowblower", the city purchased several machines at a cost of C$13,000 (equivalent to $195,714 in 2020) each to assist clearing the city, primarily Outremont.[8]

Over the following decades, additional snow-clearing machines were introduced to the city to improve snow removal techniques, including several which originated in France. The cost of snow removal has grown significantly over time: Between 1953 and 1963, the budget for snow removal was grew from C$4 million (equivalent to $39.14 million in 2020) to C$8.95 million (equivalent to $76.16 million in 2020). By 1963, the city was hauling 1,200,000 truckloads of snow annually. Several measures were in effect by then which remain in use in the modern program, including vehicle towing: A two-tone horn was used to alert motorists that snow removal was imminent, and C$5 (equivalent to $75 in 2020) tickets were issued to cars which failed to move and were eventually towed.[10] By 1978, the budget for snow removal in Montreal had reached C$31 million (equivalent to $116.04 million in 2020).[11] More than 30,000 cars were being towed annually by the 1970s to accommodate snow removal efforts.[11] The city was divided into 83 districts, each with a different captain helming removal efforts, with decrees from Montreal city council mandating passable roads within 8 hours and fully cleared roads within 72 hours.[11][10]

Several ideas beyond snow removal were also proposed (but never implemented) in the 1960s with the aim of reducing costs, including heated roads, cloud insemination to prevent precipitation from incoming storms over the city, and mobile or stationary snow melters.[10] Until the 1980s, most snow was dumped at wharfs into the St. Lawrence river, causing salt and gravel pollution.[2][10] Landscape dumps and sewer chutes were later implemented as a solution for snow displacement.[1]

Modern infrastructure, including improved communication with walkie-talkies, drones, GPS, and camera systems, have been implemented to streamline the process.[12] Citizens can report and view the status of snow clearing efforts using several mobile applications introduced by the city.[13][14]

Infrastructure and design

Snow removal was later handled in a completely decentralized manner, on a borough-to-borough basis.[15] After criticism for disparities in effectiveness between neighborhoods, the city implemented centralized mandates for each borough in 2016 requiring snow removal to commence within 12 hours of a snowfall and for major roads to be cleared within 36 hours.[15]

Generally, the snow removal process is completed in stages.[16] Roads and sidewalks are salted continuously, representing 140,000 tons of salt annually. Streets and sidewalks are then plowed, with the city deploying a fleet of 1,000 vehicles to complete the task. Unlike other cities, Montreal employs a loading stage, where trucks pick up and transport snow that has been plowed to the side of the road. Snow machines shoot the snow into dump trucks, which displace the snow from downtown.[2]

Narrow streets are cleared first, followed by main roads, collector roads, and finally residential streets. Bike paths are often completed first due to the unique machines required to clear them and the reduced area they represent, with 75 per cent of the bike lane system remaining cleared in winter months.[17][18][19]

Removal and displacement

Once collected, snow is cleared to either sewer chutes or directly to landscape dumps. Fifteen sewer chutes and eleven snow depots are spread across the city to accommodate snow displacement.[1]

Snow chutes process 25 per cent of the city's snow, and hot water from residential showers melts and flows the snow to a treatment plant in Montreal East, where it is filtered and eventually released into the St. Lawrence River.[20]

Dump sites are used to contain the remaining snow.[1] The Francon snow depot, formerly a quarry, receives the most of the displacement, representing 40 per cent of the city's snow. Snow slowly melts from the quarry in the summertime and is processed by the wastewater system, although a man-made glacier produced by the remaining snow will often remain throughout warmer months.[20][21]

Budget

The annual budget for snow removal can exceed C$160 million, with more than C$8 million allocated for independent contracts.[22][23] Several snow removal companies have been blacklisted by the city for overcharging for their services.[24][25] In 2012, Maisonneuve reported that the city of Montreal spends about 37 per cent more on snowplowing than other municipalities in Quebec, leading them to raise questions about collusion and bid-rigging.[7] Equipment destruction, specifically "firebombing", the use of Molotov cocktail-like devices on snow removal equipment, is employed by private snow removal firms to dissuade competition.[7] Upon arrival at dumps, volumes of snow carried by trucks are verified by GPS and cameras to ensure contractors fulfill their obligations.[1][2]

Comparison with other systems

Other cities, including Chicago and Boston, have had their snow removal mechanisms criticized as inferior to that of Montreal.[16][26]

See also

References
  1. Lindeman, Tracey (2021-01-22). "Defeating winter". Canadian Geographic. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  2. Desson, Craig (2019-02-18). "How Montreal takes 300,000 truckloads of snow off the street every winter". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  3. "Déneigement : Montréal souhaite éviter les bévues du passé". Radio‑Canada (in French). Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2021-12-08. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  4. "Montreal goes over its snow-removal budget, again". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2019-04-24. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  5. "Montréal Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  6. "Where does all of Montreal's snow go?". Global News (Video). Global Television Network. 2018-01-19. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  7. Ross, Selena (2012-04-18). "Getting Plowed". Maisonneuve. No. 42. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
  8. "Snow Clearing, Yesterday and Today". Musée McCord. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  9. "History Of The Snowblower". The Gilson Snowblower Shop. 2007-01-27. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  10. Gold, L.W.; Williams, G.P. (1964). "Snow Removal and Ice Control. Proceedings of a Conference" (PDF). National Research Council Canada. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  11. Lichtenstein, Grace (1978-01-28). "Unlike New York, Some Cities Shrug Off the Snow". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-02-28. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  12. "From apps to drones, Montreal better equipped to handle winter storms, officials say". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2018-11-01. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  13. Marchal, Mathias (2020-11-09). "Montréal déneigera différemment à cause de la COVID-19". Radio-Canada. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  14. Olson, Isaac (2020-11-09). "Montreal snow-removal operations will face new challenges during pandemic, mayor says". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
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  16. "Could Chicago Learn From Montreal's Snow Removal System?". NBC 5 Chicago. NBC. 2015-02-05. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  17. Bernstien, Jaela (2020-02-15). "Why are bike paths plowed before sidewalks? We grilled the City of Montreal on snow removal". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
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  19. "7 mythes sur le déneigement". Montréal (in French). Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
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  21. Desson, Craig (2019-10-12). "Montreal's glacier: Where the snow survived summer". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  22. "Rapport sur les divers contrats octroyés à l'entreprise 11073192 Canada inc. et à l'implication dans la passation et l'exécution de ceux-ci d'une personne inadmissible aux contrats publics" (PDF) (in French). Bureau de l’inspecteur général de Montréal. 2021-06-14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  23. Labbé, Jérôme (2021-12-10). "Déneigement : Montréal ajoute à sa « liste noire » une société et ses dirigeants". Radio-Canada. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
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