Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Fed Up With Snow Plows (or a lack thereof)

Here's an email from a listener. Care to comment?

Hi, I heard you mention the snow removal budget on the news this morningand I may have some insight as to why we are always over budget. Lastnight as I finally got to bed (after studying for a job interview, which is today) I had just fallen asleep when I was awakened by that most annoyingwarning sound of a truck backing up, you know the BEEP, BEEP, BEEP.

Do they really have to be so loud that they can be heard from miles away?Anyway, I waited for the sound to stop so I could go back to sleep and it did stop - for a minute. After about five minutes of this I got up to lookout my window and there was a snow plow and a Bobcat. The Bobcat was scooping snow from a snowbank on my neighbor's lawn and putting it into the snow plow. This went on for over an hour.

I wondered why these guys were being paid overtime to remove a snowbank from someone's lawn that was not hindering anyone's driving ability. There are plenty of snowbanks around that are preventing us from seeing around corners when we're driving - this as not one of them.

I am on a quiet cul de sac. My husband suggestedthat maybe they were removing the snow to clear the storm drains. Okay,the snow has been there for.........a month? Is it an emergency that they have to do this at 12am? As the night went on, there were numerous Bobcats and snow plows driving around our street clearing snowbanks, one of whichwas a hindrance to driving. If this were any other kind of noise that was keeping the neighborhood awake, the police would have come and put a stop to it.

I don't get it - could this not have been done at 8 or 9 thismorning when they are on regular paid hours? I hoped that when I drove mykids to school this morning that the roads would be cleaned up since there was all that activity last night. But no, some of the streets around my neighborhood are still only wide enough to get one car through at a time. Dutch Village Road has one lane that is about 3-4 feet wide. The noisefinally stopped around 1am which is well past my bedtime. If I don't getthe job I'm interviewing for today because I'm too tired to think, I'll be knocking on HRM's door. : )

That's my rant for the day. Love your show, have a good day.

1 comment:

Karen said...

I too had been wondering who the idiot was decided to clear the snow on the street that I live on....... I live on a dead end off a dead end and HRM was on my street with bob cats, plows and trucks..... granted we you could only pass one car at a time but we are a small street..... I was so pissed yesterday morning that I fired them off an email abnd look at the response I got ..... that’s a load of crap.......

-----Original Message-----
From: Contact HRM [mailto:contactHRM@halifax.ca]
Sent: February 24, 2009 3:29 PM
To: Karen
Subject: Re: Questions & Comments

Dear Karen.

Thank you for your email to HRM.
Unfortunately, when snow and ice needs to be cleared from the streets, sidewalks or pushed back off of catch basins etc, this work can sometimes be pushed throughout the evening and into the early morning hours. HRM is dedicated to making our streets safe and our snow clearing crews are always out in full force during a snow event.
We understand that this can be frustrating, however necessary, and we ask for your patience during snow clearing efforts.

If you have any further inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

Sincerely,



HRM Corporate Call Centre
490-4000


>>> 24/02/2009 7:10 am >>>
[COMMENTS]: I would like to know who the idiot was decided that the snow needed to be cleared off our street between the hours of 100am and 400am. We live on a dead end off a dead end. All night long we heard the truck and plow, talk about a waste of resources..... could this not have been done during the day when people are AWAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[NAME]: karen
[USER_EMAIL]: