What to know about the Montreal storm: Snow clearing to take 8 days, garbage pickup cancelled

Montrealers are shovelling out after an intense winter storm — the second in four days — lashed the city on Sunday and dropped more than 40 centimetres of snow. 

The city says the sheer volume of snow has stalled snow-clearing efforts and garbage pickup. Here's what you need to know.

Extra long snow-clearing operation 

Because of the intense amount of snow, the city says the snow-clearing operation will take about eight days — longer than usual. City spokesperson Philippe Sabourin said more than 3,000 city workers have been deployed to clear the snow as loading operations have started. 

Sabourin said that almost 50 per cent of the sidewalks in Montreal have not yet been cleared. He says the city will clear snow from major arteries as soon as possible, but residential areas will take longer to clear.

"We can't do things like we normally do them," he said. 

No garbage pickup 

Garbage pickup has been cancelled this week. Sabourin said that it was too challenging for city workers to gather garbage due to the large snow banks and ongoing snow-clearing operation.

Help your neighbours

The city is asking Montrealers to stay home, but Sabourin urged people to also check in on their neighbours, particularly the elderly. Sabourin said teens should clear their older neighbours' walkways. He also said children who are home from school and those looking to play outside can help the city by clearing a one-metre radius around fire hydrants. 

Avoid driving if possible

Sabourin urged Montrealers to take public transit. Buses were operating relatively normally on Monday morning — although some were re-routed due to difficult driving conditions. The Metro system was running smoothly, but the REM, the light-rail network connecting downtown Montreal to the South Shore, was slowed and briefly shut down early Monday. 

For those who are able to shovel out their cars, Sabourin advised drivers to be cautious. Due to the number of sidewalks yet to be cleared, some Montrealers were walking in the middle of the roads. 

To help the city move faster with snow-clearing operations, Sabourin encouraged Montrealers to keep an eye out for "no parking" signs and move their vehicles when snow-clearing operations are happening.