City takes six hours to clear streets

SUMMERSIDE - Getting around the city of Summerside on Monday was problematic at best when, by 9 a.m., the only roadways clear were the main connector routes of Water, Granville and Central streets. Any motorist living elsewhere in the city had to negotiate various depths of snow.
It is a frustrating experience for people trying to get to work on time but the issue is just as frustrating for city officials trying to get roadways cleared.
Terry Murphy, the city's chief administrative officer, said the timing of Monday's storm played a major role in the delay of getting the streets plowed.
"It takes six hours to get it cleared," he said. "Six hours of non-stop work."
He said throughout the winter most storms are usually over or have diminished enough during the early morning hours to allow plowing to begin around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. On Monday, the storm was so intense that plows were pulled off the roads at 6 a.m. because of zero visibility. They didn't return to the task until around 8 a.m.
"I was up around 6:45 a.m. and I couldn't see the road from my home," Murphy said.
Once the plows did return to work, all municipal streets were cleared by mid- afternoon.
Coun. Garth Lyle, chairman of the city's municipal works committee, said he received numerous telephone calls from his constituents in Ward 2, St. Eleanors-Slemon Park, complaining about the impassable roads in the area. He said residents outside the former Town of Summerside borders have consistently complained that they are plowed last while the inner city seems to get preferential treatment.
"It seem like where I'm at, in the outside wards it takes too long," he said. "Usually, everything is cleared in there - it's like summertime."
Murphy said there is no truth to the statements that the outer wards have to wait for snow plowing. He said the city is divided into sectors with plow crews assigned to each area. Which streets are plowed first in each sector is up to the crew working there.
As for the older part of the city getting cleared up first, Murphy said he was on Coronation Avenue, where Mayor Basil Stewart resides and at noon, that street had not been plowed.
Murphy aid the city usually follows the direction set by the province when it comes to pulling plows off the roads for safety reasons. When the province calls plows off, the city will follow.