Warning for ice removal

[T@T]

I'm beside myself, I get home from work to find a warning to remove the ice on the sidewalk in front of my driveway, since the last big snowfall I have cleared this area twice but because the ######s at city hall don't plow my street and leave a foot of slush on the road that I track onto the sidewalk when I pull in I'm the one about to get a ticket.

After pushing two stuck cars out from in front of my driveway in the last 2 weeks because it's a disaster zone I'm going to take the ticket and fight it.

They can p!ss right off.

[Daradon]

Good on ya, it's getting really stupid for snow removal in this city.

I have no idea why they expect so much from the citizens when they do nothing themselves.

[ken0042]

I'd even call the media about this. I spent 2 hours yesterday clearing a parking spot in front of my house for my car; then shortly after I slippped and fell on ice on city property trying to get the mail. It was a bad enough fall that I thought I had broken my leg and was about to call 911.

I also encourage people to email their aldermen.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I also encourage people to email their aldermen.

We should do this, in the same way we did about moving up the smoking ban.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by fotze

Time til someone says that if you want every street cleared your taxes will go up....because trimming anywhere especialy in places no one would miss is a non-starter.

There's something messed up with their budget though, and we all know this.

This is CANADA, we're supposed to get snow. Other cities remove it. Why not here?

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by fotze

Doesn't matter, the only retort you will get is that your taxes will go up.

Lol, so do we take to the streets with torches and pitch forks? Elected a black mayor?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by fotze

Doesn't matter, the only retort you will get is that your taxes will go up.

The last time this was brought up it came out to around $100 per house to clear every residential street after every storm. Not only do I think that is a fair price to pay, but I also don't think we need it 40 times per winter.

Council decided that seeing as we can't afford to do it 40 times, we should stick with never. That's like saying seeing as I cannot afford to eat at the Keg every night, I should continue to starve.

Had they plowed the side streets during the down time since the last storm, the chinooks could clean up the rest. But the way it is now it is very dangerous; and dangerous for agile and active 38 year olds. What about seniors who are now trapped in their houses?

[metallicat]

A night of graders in Edmonton costs about 2-3 million dollars. We've had them out once for a period of a week maybe. Obviously our budget is a lot bigger, but there is more to this issue than simply spending the cash to get the snow removed.

I don't even know if Calgary would have the equipment available to do what Edmonton does.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by T@T

I'm beside myself, I get home from work to find a warning to remove the ice on the sidewalk in front of my driveway, since the last big snowfall I have cleared this area twice but because the ######s at city hall don't plow my street and leave a foot of slush on the road that I track onto the sidewalk when I pull in I'm the one about to get a ticket.

After pushing two stuck cars out from in front of my driveway in the last 2 weeks because it's a disaster zone I'm going to take the ticket and fight it.

They can p!ss right off.

Down the street here there is a 6 foot pile in one quarter of the intersection, so much so that you need to be driving 100% on the left side of the road to get by.

It really doesn't bother me anymore though, I don't drive down that way unless I forget since the ruts scrape the bottom of my minivan like I am in some sort of F1 racer.

[schnee]

nm

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by oilers_fan

A night of graders in Edmonton costs about 2-3 million dollars. We've had them out once for a period of a week maybe. Obviously our budget is a lot bigger, but there is more to this issue than simply spending the cash to get the snow removed.

I don't even know if Calgary would have the equipment available to do what Edmonton does.

One of the Alderman was suggesting a few weeks ago that the city could bring in private contractors to help out. Immediately, there was some City Administrator out there saying that the private sector doesn't have the necessary equipment. Those of us who have lived in small towns or other cities know that you don't have to have specialized equipment. But here is the crazy thing: it's not an equipment issue. The City isn't even running it's current eqipment at capacity during the day, let alone at night. If they brought in contractor labour to help out during these extreme weather events, I'm sure they could get the job done.

[Flames_Gimp]

F them..I haven't been able to even cross the street since November.

[ricosuave]

seriously, bitch to your alderman, call 311 and bitch some more.

the morons running the roads department need to get their heads out of their a$$es on this issue. happens every winter.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

F them..I haven't been able to even cross the street since November.

Going out with a friend of mine in a wheelchair was terrible. It was hit and miss getting him over the snowbank and onto the sidewalk after crossing the road...although I'm not too sure what the alternative was.

[metallicat]

Originally Posted by Nancy

One of the Alderman was suggesting a few weeks ago that the city could bring in private contractors to help out. Immediately, there was some City Administrator out there saying that the private sector doesn't have the necessary equipment. Those of us who have lived in small towns or other cities know that you don't have to have specialized equipment. But here is the crazy thing: it's not an equipment issue. The City isn't even running it's current eqipment at capacity during the day, let alone at night. If they brought in contractor labour to help out during these extreme weather events, I'm sure they could get the job done.

Graders are the only thing that can get this ice off of the roads though. If you wanted the snow plowed, it should have been done months ago. The damage has been done.

We bring in private contractors as well in the form of graders, because we don't have enough of our own.

[GGG]

I got a notice too and cleaned my sidewalks. I agree with the rule that owners should clear their sidewalks.

As for plowing the worst part of plowing talking to the Newfies at work is that when the plows plow your street they block the driveways with plowed snow. With narrow lots and double car drive ways the plows would have to put the snow in front of peoples driveways and then we would see posts on here about the plows suck.

I don't think it is prudent for calgary to plow residential streets. The problem is most winters we don't need it so the capital outlay for the additional equipment and staff would be more then say edmonton where the plows would be used regularly. We shouldn't base policy on the worst case winter it should be based on the average winter. If every 10 years we have streets like this I am okay with it.

[Flames_Gimp]

Originally Posted by Slava

Going out with a friend of mine in a wheelchair was terrible. It was hit and miss getting him over the snowbank and onto the sidewalk after crossing the road...although I'm not too sure what the alternative was.

couple weeks ago my buddy busted his ass to push me through the snow and slush, took about 15 mins. i got to the side walk, was clear till i got to the bus stop and the friggin stop area wasn't clear!!!!, bus drove by 2 mins later.... friend had to help me get back across to my house, took another 15 mins...

i was so pissed!

[Nancy]

Blah, couldn't someone (maybe the auto insurance industry) launch a class action lawsuit against the City? I've lived in a few cities now, and I think many of us would agree that Calgary is not doing a reaonable job, here.

[Titan]

Obviously a touchy subject. It is not the road department's fault. They have the know how of what needs to be done and how to do it but no money. It is 100% council's fault. They have not had to clear snow in the past so they have not built it into the budgets and they know they will eventually get caught with their pants down like they did this year. We have not had a winter like this in a long time. The alternative is to have tons of equipment and labour sitting around every year that is not like this one. Is that prudent? Probably not but in years like this most people would say it is worth it. And as said above, unless you actually remove it like they do in Montreal it makes getting out of your driveway impossible. They spend $128 million to do snow removal each year: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_removal that is a lot of other stuff that won't get done in Calgary. I'm not saying it shouldn't but that is a lot of cash to set aside for something that is needed every 5-6 years.

I know I am glad I have a truck but I have a lot of sympathy for those that can't get around as easy. People like Flames Gimp have it even worse, as do the elderly.

I know we had a case where the windrows, what a pile of snow on the road is called, and an elderly lady had to climb three feet of glazed snow and obviously it did not turn out well. She broke a bunch of stuff but suing the City is almost impossible in situations like that. The courts can't tell the City how to spend its money, is what it comes down to. Most of the time this is a good policy, even if it does not feel like it.

[T@T]

LOL, this might be good, the notice they sent me said if the sidewalk on my driveway wasn't cleared by noon they would send a crew (at my expense) do do it. I can't wait to see if they clear the sidewalk in front of the two alley entrances on my street. they are much worst than mine. I'm taking pics in the morning!