Today, after a night of snow and freezing rain, our roads are dangerous.
After every snow, city management talks about how they have had plows out and salt and sand trucks.
The problem is not that the equipment is not going out, but it is the wrong equipment we are using to plow our city.
Years ago, our city had a fleet of plows with belly blades to get to the pavement, but no longer do we see them. So, after a snow fall, we are stuck with more than an inch of hard-packed snow and ice on our roads, due to the shoes on a snow plow that prevents road damage from the plows.
Bell plows don’t have shoes using a hydraulic shock to keep them on the surface of the road, creating constant contact with the pavement.
I travel a lot and see other Northern Ontario cities using these plows, and they are very efficient at cleaning roads.
Maybe our city should look at these plows again, to ensure the safety of its citizens that travel on the roads of this city.
Greg Connor
Hanmer