As icy deposits at the end of driveways raise the ire of residents, a spokesperson for the mayor says the city will not outfit plows with snow gates to help mitigate snowy windrows.
Jordan Allard, Mayor Matthew Shoemaker's communications and policy advisor, said winter operations are “regularly reviewed to ensure we are serving the community.”
While solutions exist to mitigate snowy windrows, like snow gates – which can be attached to plows – Allard said they are not a realistic option for snow removal operations here.
“The snow gate concept has been discussed at city council meetings in previous years, but it is not a feasible option for a municipality like Sault Ste. Marie,” Allard said.
“The close proximity of houses in residential areas would make snow gate operations extremely challenging, unlike in rural areas where homes are more spaced out.”
Given the close proximity of driveways, paired with 1,225 lane kilometres of snow maintenance carried out in the city, Allard said snow gates could double or triple the time required to clear snow, on top of the fact they lose effectiveness in heavier snowfall scenarios.
“Those gates aren’t effective for snowfall amounts greater than 10 centimetres, which – as Saultites know all too well – we receive on a frequent basis throughout an average winter,” Allard said.
“Maintenance of these gates would also pose challenges because they aren’t built to be constantly raised and declined. For a variety of issues, they just aren’t a feasible concept for mid to large sized municipalities.”
Last week, a West End resident wrote a letter to the editor about his “defeated soul and dumbfounded look” after city snow maintenance crews left “four feet by two feet wide ice dams” at the end of neighbourhood driveways, garnering dozens of comments from community members similarly expressing concerns about icy laneways.
In response, the city said snowy windrows are an “unavoidable” part of snow removal, particularly in years with heavy snowfall, but stressed city crews work around the clock to keep roads safe for drivers, pedestrians, and emergency services, while encouraging residents to hire snow removal services to clear windrows.