City declares snow removal emergency
Snow to be blown from public roads onto private property as temporary measure
As of noon Wednesday, the City of Westmount will enact temporary emergency measures by allowing snow-removal vehicles to blow snow from public roadways onto private property, where possible.
These extraordinary measures were being taken to ensure that the huge volume of snow can be removed as quickly as possible from local streets — in anticipation of rainfall over the weekend, and a return to freezing temperatures the following week.
By removing snow more quickly, the City hopes to reduce the likelihood of significant quantities of ice forming on Westmount streets after this weekend’s expected rain, which would create extremely dangerous conditions for pedestrians and drivers alike.
Since Sunday’s massive 40-cm snowfall, City crews have been working tirelessly to remove snow from Westmount streets, but have been hampered by the huge volume of snow and limited access to snow dumps. Significant rush-hour traffic delays and difficulty in navigating snow-bound streets have severely slowed dump trucks hauling snow out of Westmount, as they travel to the Butler snow dump in the Sud-Ouest borough of Montreal.
As of 7 p.m. Tuesday, Westmount crews have only removed 30 per cent of snow from local streets, forcing the City to look at different ways to accelerate the process.
No salt
The City would like to reassure residents that snow containing significant quantities of road salt will not be blown onto private property, but will instead be removed by dump trucks. The City will also make every effort to avoid blocking driveways and private walks. The blowing of snow onto private property will be limited to areas of Westmount where front lawns are large enough to accommodate it.
Regular snow removal methods will resume as soon as possible.
Weather: Montreal, July 19th 2008 / 20°C
/ Overcast
/ Wind: 7 Km/h / Humidity: 88 % 
Steven Guilbeault - Environment Column
Richard Cléroux - National Columnist
