Mayor apologizes for snow-clearing time delays during recent storm

Kawartha Lakes Mayor Andy Letham is apologizing for some side streets and rural roads not getting cleared within their usual time frame during last week’s multi-day storm.

“Last week’s storm was a difficult one for everybody. Our roads crew struggled with the unusual amount, timing and conditions of the storm. In most cases, once a storm is over, we can begin clearing the roads. This typically takes six to 10 hours to clear all roads,” he notes in a press release.

“In this case we had heavy overnight snow followed by sustained strong winds the next day with snow squalls and accumulation up to 30 cm in some areas. Our staff worked their maximum amount of hours (12 hours per day) allowed by labour law to ensure safety on both Thursday and Friday and continued to clear the heaviest hit areas on Saturday. Considering the size of plow trucks,  a mandatory rest period for operators is a good thing.”

Letham went on to say that when the main roads need to be continuously cleared due to accumulation and drifting, “the secondary roads don’t get the attention they normally do.”

“There is no redundancy built into the system as there is only one operator per route. They can only cover so much area in a set period of time.”

The mayor says last week there were some side streets and rural roads that didn’t get cleared within the time frame they usually do.

“We apologize for this inconvenience. Your patience and understanding are appreciated as our staff struggle to keep our roads safe and passable under circumstances beyond our control.”

Letham says they will learn from this event and strive to improve on it the next time. He thanked plow drivers and support staff for doing the difficult work.