Two days after a massive snowstorm blanketed Toronto, city crews are trying to deal with the piles of snow that are blocking both sides of major streets.
The piles are several feet high and they are giving pedestrians and drivers a tricky time trying to get around.
Snow removal crews spent Sunday clearing the roads of snow so that cars could get through. City crews took advantage of the break in the weather Monday to clear the piles snowblowers pushed off to the side. The bright sunshine also helped by melting some of the white stuff away.
The clean-up should be completed by the end of the week. The snow is being brought to a melting site at Ontario Place and other snow disposal sites across the city.
The weather has put a dent in Toronto's snow removal budget.
The city is mulling over adding an extra $12 million to its reserves to effectively deal with the weather. Snow removal this winter has cost the city $45 million. There is only $67 million in the budget for the entire year.
Traffic disruptions
Snow plows caused several delays along major highways and roadways as did cars parked on the side of the street.
TTC drivers found it difficult to navigate streetcars through the city because of parked cars.
City officials are warning drivers not to park on roadways because the mounting snowbanks have already narrowed space on the streets significantly.
The TTC is working with parking enforcement officers to tag and tow the cars away.
The snowbanks were also the cause of a few traffic accidents Monday morning.
One car driving along the Gardiner Expressway wandered too closely to the icy, hard snow patch. The driver lost control of his car and flipped the vehicle onto its roof. The driver suffered some broken bones in the crash.
The weather was also blamed for collapsing the Metro Golf Dome Sunday. The dome, located on Milner Avenue, between McCowan and Markham Roads, should reopen tomorrow if the repairs go well. Nobody was inside at the time it collapsed.
That wasn't the case in Cambridge where several people were sent to hospital with serious injuries after an awning collapsed outside a nightclub Saturday night.
Heavy snow caused the awning to come crashing down on a number of people enjoying a smoke break outside the club.
Triple the work
Snow plow operators say it's been a very busy season but that doesn't mean it's been good for business.
Most of the operators negotiate contracts at the beginning of the season. That means if it snows more than what is anticipated, they still get paid the same.
"Last year was wonderful, there was hardly any snow, we were basically getting paid for hanging out," Paul Fierro, a snow plow operator told CTV Toronto. "This year we're working for our money."
Fierro said he has triple the amount of work this year than he did last season but he isn't getting paid any more, even though he has to spend more on overhead and fuel.
"I went from Friday at 3 a.m. and I didn't go home until Sunday at 9 p.m.," Fierro said. "I missed my daughter's birthday this year. I missed New Year's because it snowed on the first."
Forecasters are predicting more snow will fall in the GTA by the end of the week but they don't expect a significant accumulation.
The total snowfall put the city in line to set a new record. The current record, set 70 years ago, is 207 centimetres. On Monday, Environment Canada said Toronto's new snowfall amount is 191 centimetres.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Naomi Parness and Galit Solomon
