Montreal is considering the possibility of dumping more snow on the city’s residential areas, according to a survey. The survey shows that the majority of citizens are quite satisfied with municipal snow removal.
Posted at 7:33 p.m.
According to the study conducted by the Léger firm among 1,000 Montrealers and obtained by La Presse, the city earns an average rating of 6.6/10 for its winter work. Snow removal around subway stations and bus stops received the best rating, while cleaning sidewalks was rated more harshly.
“This is relatively good news for the city of Montreal,” commented pollster Christian Bourque, vice-president of Léger. “We see that it achieves a completely correct result in terms of snow removal performance. This allows us to hear the voice of the silent majority who say they are relatively happy, even though we often hear a loud minority in public spaces. »
The City of Montreal welcomed these results positively.
“There are variables that we cannot control: for example, the effect of salt when it is very cold,” said Philippe Sabourin, spokesman for the city of Montreal.
A satisfaction rate like ours, when we look at it in this context of the vagaries of the weather, is good news.
Philippe Sabourin, spokesman for the city of Montreal
“There is always room for improvement,” Mr. Sabourin added. And we can only improve what we measure. That’s why we do surveys like this. »
More snow on the site?
The city of Montreal used the survey to test a “new measure” it is considering: “blowing snow onto the land” where “space permits,” as in other Quebec cities.
About 58% of respondents said they supported the idea. However, parking lot owners, respondents aged 55 and over and residents of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles are significantly less enthusiastic about this idea.
The idea of blowing snow is not uninteresting to the city of Montreal. Loading snow is very expensive, taking up most of the $196 million snow budget.
The Quebec metropolis is a rare city that can handle almost all the snow that falls on its streets and has the highest costs for clearing snow from its arteries. Montreal spends an estimated $18,000 maintaining each kilometer of road, three times more than other major cities in the country.
However, another “new measure” is far less popular: A slim majority of Montrealers (52%) would be against removing warning sirens before the passage of collective convoys, the study says. The city has nevertheless decided to test the matter: a pilot project was recently launched in two sectors of the island.
Speed is “the key”
According to Léger’s study, obtained by La Presse through access to information, satisfaction with snow removal is not uniform among the island’s population.
Montrealers who mostly walk in the winter are slightly happier than others, as are those who don’t own a car and residents of the Anjou district, the report explains.
“The clarity of the instructions and instructions to be followed, as well as the deadlines for carrying out each type of operation, are quite satisfactory in the eyes of Montrealers,” Léger states in his report. “If the average result is below the satisfaction threshold, parking space availability again represents an opportunity for improvement for the city.” »
But “the key” to public opinion on snow removal is the speed of implementation, emphasizes Christian Bourque in a telephone interview.
Therefore, “execution time is the top driver of satisfaction AND dissatisfaction for the majority of Montrealers,” the survey says. Second is the quality of service. “Those who walk and use public transport in winter are more likely to cite slippery sidewalks as a reason for their dissatisfaction,” the document continues.
The Léger survey was conducted between June 1 and 13 with 1,001 respondents by telephone and online. The maximum margin of error for a probability sample of the same size is +/- 3.1%, 19 out of 20.
In collaboration with William Leclerc, La Presse
Concentrated snowfall
Montreal is facing a new snow removal challenge, according to recently released municipal data. In the last five years, as much snow fell on the island as usual, but the concentration was significantly heavier in the months of January and February.
