In the wake of the massive winter storm that left transit riders, drivers and pedestrians complaining about the difficulties and delays navigating snowbound streets, the chair of Toronto's Public Works Department has ordered a review of how the city digs itself out of such severe weather.
Works and infrastructure committee chair Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (representing Don Valley East) told reporters Wednesday that the city dealt with a flurry of complaints since the snow fell late last week.
The review, he said, would be aimed at avoiding that happening again in the future.
"We would all like to avoid the over 100 delays and stoppages that resulted from the selfish people who parked their cars on roads like Queen and King Street and delayed hundreds of people who were using transit," Minnan-Wong said at City Hall.
Among the issues to be examined is the challenge for streetcars trying to travel on those streets and others, in the face of cars parked curbside.
Because of the amount of snow banked along the sides of the roads, those cars wound up encroaching on the streetcar tracks.
The result was 102 streetcars either stalled or stopped in their tracks, adding up to a total of 44 hours of delays.
In his comments Wednesday, Minnan-Wong also acknowledged that the decision not to declare a "snow emergency" in the city might not have been the right one.
In the event of such a declaration from the mayor's office, the city is authorized to tow any vehicles parked along designated snow routes, many of which line those same clogged downtown streets.
The councillor said the review will also examine the clearing of bike lanes and the staffing of the city's 311 telephone hotline.
From your experience since the storm dumped up to 30 centimetres of snow on parts of Toronto, are you satisfied with the city's clean-up efforts?
