Snowfall closes Niagara schools while St. Catharines plows press on

Some parts of the Niagara region saw upwards of 20 centimetres of snow Monday morning and when that much falls so quickly, it can be a challenge.

In the city of St. Catharines, a new pilot project has more plows on the road than ever before, and it might be making a difference.

While this latest snow storm took its toll on Southern Ontario, the Niagara region fared quite well.

Initial forecasts estimated upwards of 30 centimeters by mid-Monday, however by the time the cell passed, that figure was closer to 20 centimetres. There was a widespread closure of schools, businesses and services across the region while snow removal efforts got underway.

“Early Sunday morning, we staffed up and our response was to get on our main routes to make sure they were cleared,” said Tim Marotta, Director of Municipal Works, St. Catharines.”So those main routes give people a chance to get through, gives emergency vehicles a route. For an event like this, its really helpful that we can know we have staff that are committed to our operations during that time. Even before an event like this, there’s a lot of prep that goes into it, having a crew on to line up equipment, get equipment in order, just helps us with staffing.”

Over the years, The City of  St. Catharines has honed its snow fall response with a snow plow tracker and a new pilot project that has added an extra shift to its snow plow  operations. There’s also its winter parking ban currently in effect. It’s a measure the city can temporarily enact, which aims to improve its snow removal process even further.

“A lot of municipalities use parking bans, its just so we can get our equipment on those smaller roads,” Marotta said. “Having cars out of the way really means we can get that work done, have our crews go through in a safe and efficient way.”

Those in violation can be ticketed 40 dollars, or even have their car towed at their own expense.

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