Where Does All That Dirty Snow Go

The snow has really hung around this winter. It’s been a long time since we had so much lingering snow. By this time last winter we could see the sidewalks and curbs and there was no dirty snow piles in the city anywhere in mid-February.

Even major roads have had little place to put snow and the piles have eaten into sidewalks, bike lanes and parking spots. The city snow removal activity has been continuous yet it’s hardly made a dent in some parts of the city.

The city has been promising to move snow from a huge list of streets for weeks now. It’s hard to know how seriously to take this list or the posted signs warning of snow removal. A restaurant patron we spoke to was disappointed with his parking ticket. He said his it was for, “non-payment, but considering the snow removal zone I figured I got off easy”. The city website warns that fines for parking in a snow removal zone may reach $500.

When the snow is moved where does it go? Backhoe’s pile it into dump trucks and it disappears.

We were able to find one depository for some of this dirty snow. At the end of St. Clair Avenue where the Danier Leather factory used to be, there was a huge pile of dirty snow melting in the parking lot.

Has your sidewalk been cleared? What has your block’s post snowstorm clear-up experience been like?