'Be patient,' Montreal mayor says, as snow-removal operation lags

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said Wednesday that the city's snow-removal operation, which now has no predicted finishing date, will cost more than $50 million. 

Plante, who spoke to reporters at a city garage in the Ville-Marie borough, urged people — as the city has on multiple occasions over the past few days — to stay home and be patient. 

"We need to be patient. I have to be honest," she said. "Everything is being put on the territory to work as fast as possible in the safest way possible and we're doing a great job, I would say, based on the situation."

City spokesperson Philippe Sabourin accompanied Plante. Over the past week, as two winter storms dumped a combined 75 centimetres of snow on the city, Sabourin has been ever-present, giving updates on the city's situation. 

Plante, by contrast, had not made a public appearance to address the snow-removal operation. She said Wednesday that it was a "team effort" and that she trusted Sabourin to communicate on behalf of the city. 

WATCH | Plante urges patience: 

Snow removal far from over, Montrealers 'need to be patient,' says mayor

2 days ago

Duration 2:25

On Wednesday, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante provided an update on the city's snow-removal operation and urged residents to be patient, be courteous with each other and share the road.

Initially, Sabourin said the snow-removal operation would take eight days. On Tuesday, he upped his prediction to 10 days. Now, he says the operation will last at least until next week and it's impossible to give a precise end date. 

"As of tomorrow, we will be able to make projections," he said, "but what's certain is that it's impossible to do this in less than one week."

Meanwhile, it was still difficult to get around the city on Wednesday. Pedestrians trudged down uncleared sidewalks or opted to walk right down the middle of plowed roads. 

Driving — and parking — remained difficult and even public transit, at least aboveground, was a challenge; buses struggled to navigate the snowy roads. 

Plante said the city was doing all it could to make things easier for people to get around. Paid parking spots on the city's streets would be free after 7 p.m., she said, to give people a place to put their car if their street was scheduled for snow removal. 

But she urged drivers to be cautious. She said it was understandable that pedestrians were choosing to walk down roads rather than try to pick through uncleared sidewalks. 

The pace of snow removal was slow, Plante said, due to the sheer volume of snow. The city's massive snowblowers were filling one large, 45-foot truck every minute during a loading operation. 

And 50 per cent of the city's sidewalks still need to be cleared — the same percentage the city gave on Tuesday. 

The total cost of the operation would climb above $50 million, Plante said. But she noted that the city has an annual snow-removal budget of $200 million.

Alan DeSousa, spokesperson for Ensemble Montréal, the Official Opposition at City Hall and the mayor of the Saint-Laurent borough, said in a media release that Plante had shown a lack of leadership during the storms.

"How is it that [Plante] speaks out publicly for the first time in four days after the start of the snowfall?" he said.