In that one picture it shows why the city blew through half a million for a few inches of snow in December. Three pieces of equipment each with an operator and burning fuel to clear a small residential street after what 10-12 cm of snow! A single truck with a front or belly plow could have cleared all the streets in the whole subdivision in the time it took these slow moving behemoths to clear that one street. With more snow in the forecast they will all soon be heading back downtown leaving most of the city still waiting for Friday’s snow to be cleared.

Sure it would mean a bit of shovelling at the end of the driveway, but as it would not be packed into concrete and easy to move. Using the equipment in the picture in areas where snow is piled in windrows for later pickup is fine. The time to use a grader in residential areas is between snowfalls to smooth anything left by the plowtruck and widen road if required.

Then there is the cost for equipment replacement, for the cost of one new grader the city could buy three fully equiped plow trucks. And finally the city’s website shows they spent $261,500.00 to rent 2 graders and two loaders and $170,000.00 on retainers for additional graders if required money that could have been used to purchase almost two shiney new plow trucks that the city would own outright.

2 graders means clear the street twice as fast if done efficiently.

I agree with most of what you say sparrow, but a plowtruck can only be effective if it can move at a decent rate of speed! If people didn’t park on the street it would be very effective. Ron’s towing should make a fortune and our snow removal should drop significantly. The City website posts where the clearing is going to be and it is incumbent upon the car owner to be clear.

I’m sure they are clearing all the residential streets in the area. Not one small residential street.

Why do we have to have snow removal the main headline, after every snowfall? We get it. We have a new council who vows to improve snow clearing. Apparently the last mayor was the anti-christ. Stop shoving it down our throats.

Palopu

A single plow truck is a much more efficient and cost effective way to move the few inches of snow we had especially in residential neighbourhoods. Would be a different story if we got a lake effect dump like Buffalo got earlier, but three pieces of equipment for an ankle deep dusting, crazy!

DPJ

Unless the windrow from the first grader get up to 12 or 18 inches the cutting edge on the second grader will have the factory paint on it all winter. Sad state of affairs when tire wear is the biggest maintenance issue for a grader.

Sparrow you just march down to the city yard and give them hell. Let us know when so we can come watch. About the graders, so you are implying they have only one use, that being snow plowing. Also if you haven’t noticed snow levels vary around the city and even block to block. Oh, and people want their driveways cleared. Do you have a sign up not to clear yours? That can be done.

Sometimes……They just can’t win for the whine.

Each grader has a loader, you can’t see the second loader in the pic but rest assured it is around.
Just the question that begs to be asked is the streets they do with a plow truck they do not clear the driveways with a loader or any other means – although we all pay the same taxes, have to go out and shovel the entrance to the driveway sometimes twice a day when they plow it closed in the morning then again at night (bus route you see). When they bring the grader in to widen they do have a loader behind… Anybody got some cheese for my whine?

Personally, I don’t think sparrow’s idea of plow trucks in residential would work as well. And it would leave a hell of a mess. And on streets where fools park on both sides of the street, how is the plow truck going to get down the street ?

Sparrow I don’t think understands the basics of snow clearing 101

Even using a belly blade a plow truck is not an effective snow clearing tool at slow speeds and would constantly get stuck as it does not have the power to push through ice buildup plow trucks are designed for highway use

Graders are very effective as they can push a huge amount of snow at very slow speeds and have the power to push through almost everything and are capable at clearing huge areas in very small amount of time. Loaders, dump trucks and front mounted snow blowers are no where near as time efficient as a grader is.

Loaders are ok at snow clearing but lack the power to push through ice buildup so they skim the top of the ice and take a lot longer than a grader to clear the same area and make more of a mess

It is only in the last couple of years that the city decided that the way to clear the streets was to dick around the yard till all roads are rutted with something that resembles concrete. They then have no choice but to use a grader. If YRB sat around the shop playing crib until the snow is packed their trucks would be useless too. Instead they get out there and get it done before it is packed—snowclearing 101.

It the past the city did use plow trucks and within 24 hours of any snowfall had the vast majority of the streets plowed not a week or 10 days like happens now. The question I would ask is how many lane kilometres can a plow truck clear in an 8 hour shift vs a grader?

It is a total waste of city resources to use two graders and a loader to clear a snowfall that you could walk through in running shoes and not get your socks wet.

Oh and DI If a truck was blocked by parked vehicles a grader or loader would also be hooped

In any event we seem to be getting the job done. Hopefully they will make necessary improvements to their systems in the next year or two and get this situation solved once and for all.

They need to ensure that they get maximum bang for their dollars, and not have anymore of these make work projects. Do the best job possible, and any surplus/savings can go into the contingency fund. Eventually with proper management and work ethic, we should be able to reduce our cost of snow removal.

Hahaha sparrow, you ever run a grader? How about ever climb into one? Maybe spend less time on your computer and grab a shovel. It’ll be good for you

Wonder what the ice removal budget will be for 2016?