The City of Kenora says staff with their Roads crews are working tirelessly to clear main streets and priority routes throughout the city after a massive snow-melt on Wednesday, which is still causing slick road conditions and frustration across the community.
“It’s a cliché, but it was a perfect storm,” explained the City of Kenora’s Director of Corporate Services, Heather Pihulak.
“As much as everyone’s excited to see spring and sunshine, what happened Wednesday over a 12-hour period, it was a perfect storm. Sunshine happened far too quickly. When you have that kind of quick melt, it creates utter chaos, on top of the six feet of snow we’ve experienced over the wintertime.”
Environment Canada says temperatures reached a high of 9 degrees on Wednesday, causing the melt. From October 2021 to March 16, Environment Canada says we’ve seen 241.9 cm of snowfall this year, meaning we’ve actually seen 7.9 feet of snow. The average snowfall is 164.1 cm for the entire winter season. That’s about 5.3 feet of snow.
“Our roads crews are doing their very best to try to respond to priority areas, addressing priority routes as quickly as possible. There’s a very high demand on our road crews, and there’s only so many pieces of equipment and so many staff to be able to address all of these different areas,” adds Pihulak.
The City of Kenora says we have over 350 kilometres of roadways throughout the community. On top of snow removal work, Pihulak explains those same roads crews also assist with steaming work to eliminate flooding on roadways and work with water crews to dig up frozen water lines.
“Staff are working extremely hard. They’re putting in the time. We’ve hired contractors to assist us. We’re trying to get on top of snow removal,” adds Pihulak.
“Nothing is working in the favour of the roads crews. It’s been a very challenging and long winter. Nothing has been on our side this year. With that strong melt, it presented a whole different level of challenges for staff. We’re getting to the areas as quickly as we can.”
Ultimately, Pihulak and the city are asking community members to remain patient as crews continue their work across the community.
“I really ask for empathy from people. I’m a tax-payer too. I have challenges on my street too. But I look at the human side of it. These staff are working very hard. We have done what we can with contractors and we are trying to address these areas,” said Pihulak.
“I’m asking for the public’s patience and understand that with these temperature changes, we are going to have problems,” she adds.
The city notes that due to recent road conditions, garbage trucks may vary their routes and pick-up times. Your recycling and garbage collection may be delayed, but if it hasn’t been picked up by 3 p.m. on your scheduled day, you’re asked to call the Transfer Station at 807-467-2980.
