Officials in Toronto say it could take three weeks to finish trucking away the piles of snow that are restricting traffic and blocking sidewalks after a major snowstorm.
Canada’s most populous city was buried under a further 25 centimetres of snow over the weekend — the second major dump in the past week.
Environment Canada said a winter storm warning that was issued Saturday for the Toronto area was lifted last night after snowfall tapered off during the afternoon.
City staff say Toronto hasn’t had to clear this much snow in more than three years, since a major storm in January 2022.
They say it can take 10 hours to clear a one-kilometre stretch of road of the big snowbanks left by plows — a loader or truck-mounted snow blower slowly unloads the snow into a dump truck, which then carries it to a city storage or melting site.
Hospitals, main streets, transit stops, school bus loading zones and sidewalks get the first priority.
“Toronto is a big city and this work takes a lot of time,” Barbara Gray, the city’s transportation services general manager, said during a Monday morning news conference.
But staff are trying to move “as quickly and efficiently” as possible, she said.
Officials warned drivers to avoid parking on designated snow routes or where temporary orange signs have been set up to indicate snow removal is planned. They said around 2,300 vehicles had been ticketed.
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