This winter should go down in the history books as “The Year of Abundant Snow.”
It will be interesting to see how much more falls. Also watch out if the wind comes up, because there is a whole lot of snow hanging in the trees just waiting to come avalanching down. The snow blobs that look so cute can suddenly turn into snow bombs.
This week is an ode to our snowfall heroes: the entire snow removal team and the many volunteer shovellers scattered throughout town. In the spring, when the last truckload of snow heads to the dump, I think the mayor should declare a citywide holiday. The bells should ring, the sirens wail, the horns blare and honk, all to mark the occasion. There should also be a big parade down the renamed “Franklin Snow Avenue.”
The parade would be led by a snow plow and its operator, all decked out in bunting and flags. This would be followed by a front-end loader, the dump trucks, the sidewalk sweepers and Bobcats. It would include all the city employees and contractors who help remove the snow. Behind them would be every person in town who helped remove snow from sidewalks or public places — all of them carrying and waving their shovels on high.
It takes a whole lot of people, time and effort to keep the city dug out and functioning. So they deserve a big thank you. They really are Northern heroes. Some are volunteers, some are paid but they all do more than just a job. They are helping to make Yellowknife a better place and many are out there before dawn, getting things clean and ready for the day.
I think everyone should drive a snow plow to see what it’s like. Just driving it is an experience but to plow with it is another thrill. To be a skilled enough driver to plow the roads in the city is an incredible challenge because you must run that plow plate within a couple of inches of the concrete curbs. To sit way up in the cab of a plow and to judge where the edge of your blade is, that’s an art form. You also have to judge where the concrete curb is, because it is also buried and hidden under the snow. That takes a whole lot of skill, practice and concentration. You really have to focus on the job to do it properly.
If you do scrape the curbs, the sound of steel grinding concrete is loud and awful. It is like the sound of fingernails on black boards, only worse. It can also do a lot of damage, to the curbs and plow blades. Someday just walk around and look at the curbs and you can see where they have been scraped, and pieces broken or chipped off.
Since we live in a winter city, one would think that municipal planners would take this into consideration, but they seem to go out of their way to make the job of plowing the roads as difficult and time consuming as possible. Take downtown for instance. They put big concrete bulges out into the road at the intersection. They probably got the idea from their many visits to cities that don’t get any snow, and someone thought, hey those bulges are picturesque, let’s put them in here.
Now imagine what it’s like trying to plow the roads and having to be constantly navigating around those concrete bulges. That takes a lot of experience, time and adds considerably to our snow removal budget. Then the city also likes to put obstacles in close to the curbs — big, ugly pieces of blast rock being a favorite. A few of them get hit every year by plows and also by drivers who go off the road. You want to know how to design a city to make it easier and cheaper to remove the snow? Ask the people that do it, not some city planner who has never driven a snow plow or a sidewalk sweeper.
It’s time to recognize the snow removal crews, particularly those who work at night. Also, all the people who keep the sidewalks clean. They are all unsung Northern heroes.
