Hillview resident concerned town not safe enough with snow removal

Times Reporter

 

Residents in the Hillview area had been warned there would be snow removal in their area on Jan. 27. There was a sign stating it would take place from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with all vehicles left on the street being ticketed and/or towed. It came as a surprise to Anne Leeper and her family when her husband was issued a ticket at 7:07 a.m. for being parked on the street. This was not only one issue Leeper had that morning. 

“After that, when we were getting our kids ready for school, the loader and grader were starting to come down the streets, clearing the ice. There’s kids all over trying to get to their bus stops and this equipment is right there,” said Leeper. 

She said around the corner from her house there are bus stops, and there are kids crossing from all sides of the intersection to get to the bus stop. She said the loader did a u-turn at the intersection to go back down the other direction down the street.  

“I thought, ‘that’s kind of dangerous with all the kids around,” said Leeper

She said then the grader had the edge of its blade right up against the sidewalk trying to get all the snow. Leeper said she understands why they are doing it, and that it is important and she likes the snow removal. She doesn’t feel they should be doing it as kids are walking down the street because it is dangerous. 

“My husband was watching the kids at the bus stop, and the fellow with the loader by this time is coming down the street towards the kids,” said Leeper. 

“The bus stop on the same side…as he gets closer, he stops the loader, yells at the kids to get out of the way and then continues on his way.”

She said when loaders are pushing a heavy load, because they articulate in the middle, it kind of swings back and forth. Hillview only has two accesses and Leeper said it’s busy until about 8:30 a.m. Then the area dies down, since most people are at work and the kids are in school. She said they could come in after and do their cleaning then and no one would be in the way.  

“Instead they are in there issuing tickets to people whose vehicles are parked on the streets at seven in the morning and then are running heavy equipment as our kids are trying to cross the street,” said Leeper. 

“Really, this is ridiculous. Wait until our kids get school safely, then come with the equipment and clean the streets.”

At that point the last snowfall had been Jan. 8 and they were cleaning on the 27. Leeper said she doesn’t see why they couldn’t have waited a couple more hours.  

“I really think the town needs to look at waiting until the children are in school before they do major street cleaning like that, because in my opinion it’s a wreck about to happen,” said Leeper. 

She said she had talked to some neighbours in the area, and they were upset about sending their kids out with all the equipment around. 

“I understand that the loader and the grader need to get ahead of the snow blower, that makes perfect sense but at what cost do we have to do that?” said Leeper. 

She knows they are trying to get the cost down, but she said she and her husband shouldn’t be hassled at 7 a.m., and her children shouldn’t be put at risk. She said when she talked to the Mayor, he agreed it should be looked into.

“I can’t comment on the enforcement aspect of the signage and all that kind of stuff because that is really up to our Bylaw and Peace Officers,” said Jesse Parker, Director of Engineering 
and Operations for the Town.  

Parker said the guys running the equipment start when they do because it is the earliest they can. They are also bound by the noise bylaw and can’t take the equipment into areas in town earlier than 7 a.m.

“We’re trying to do it as quickly as we can, which unfortunately put us in a situation where there were children waiting at a bus stop while there was equipment in the area,” said Parker.  

“Previously we went out with the grader and loader earlier, so we had been going out to residential areas prior to 7 a.m. and get in and get out before that conflict with students and children.” 

Parker admits being restricted to wait until 7 a.m. has made things worse when it comes to clearing the roads.

“Had we waited until then we wouldn’t have gotten near as much done, so the challenge for us is that we’re trying to clean up things,” said Parker. 

Since the conversation with Leeper and other town administrators, Parker has said they are already looking at ways to make things safer.