Mayor Letham issues statement on last week's winter storm

Kawartha Lakes – After the winter storm we experienced over the course of February 26-29, Mayor Letham shares the following remarks to residents:

“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 6-10 hours to clear all roads.

In this case we had heavy overnight snow followed by sustained strong winds the next day with snow squalls and accumulation up to 30cm 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.

When the main roads need to be continuously cleared due to accumulation and drifting, we can maintain those roads around the clock. Other roads (collector and residential roads) can only be maintained once within a 24 hour period. There is no redundancy built into the system for as there is only one operator per route. They can only cover so much area in a set period of time. 

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.

We will learn from this event and strive to improve on it the next time mother nature throws us a curveball. In the meantime, thank you to our plow drivers and support staff for doing the difficult and ever-challenging work you do to keep us safe. 

To learn more about how we service roads in the winter, visit our website.

Photo caption: Kawartha Lakes grader assists plow truck in dealing with drifts during February storm

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