Halifax snow clearing questioned by north-end resident

Do upscale neighbourhoods get snow clearing prioritization in Halifax?

A north end resident visited the south end this weekend and started wondering if income levels connect to snow-clearing services.

Alana Yorke posted a photo on Facebook of a wonderfully clearCambridge Street in the south end this weekend, writing:"Today, South End Streets vs. North End Streets. After about 20 nights of parking ban, anyone in North End and Central Halifax knows the situation, little or no evidence of snow or ice clearing."

Yorke was in the south end onthe weekend and spotted crews clearing the area that includes Waegwoltic Avenue, Conrose Avenue, Geldert Street and the dead end streetsof Beech and Cambridge.

"So this little grid of streets, when I went and looked the next day, had been clearedcurb to curb, in this whole grid of streets thats isolated and doesnt permit any through traffic," Yorke told CBCs Mainstreet.

Yorke wondered why the south end streets were cleared to the pavement when Halifax's website says the goal is not bare pavement.

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"It would strike me that [the streets in south end] are wider than in north end and central Halifax neighbourhoods, where theres different historical construction and street layout."

North end residentshave been "very affected" by the parking ban because theres nowhere else to park cars, she said, while many south end homes have driveways.

"I guess Im wondering how the decision was made to put this intensive ice-clearing effort into that particular area of Halifax," said Yorke.

She pointed out thatmajor thoroughfares in other areas of the peninsula, including Agricola Street and Bayers Road, still have lanes missing because they are covered in snow.

Hills vs. bowls

Mainstreet asked Darrin Natolino, the head of Halifax's winter operations, if the south end is getting more attention than the north.

"No, I dont think thats a fair comment to make," he said."Its not that we would rather send the trucks to the south end, its that those streets needed more attention."

South-end streets often have "bowls" attracting water, whereas north-end streets tend to be on hills.

"They drained off and we didnt necessarily see the requirement on as many of those streets," he said.

He said the city prioritizes streets not on the basis of residential income, but by streets that have:

• More than 20 centimetres of ice pack
• Restrictive rutting or ice potholes
• Close proximity to schools
• Significant safety concerns as identified by Halifax Regional Fire and Halifax Transit.

If there are too many parked cars on a particular road, crews have to shift on the fly and move over a few blocks to clear another area, he said.

"We make those decisions as we go," said Natolino."We have to balance our priorities and keep working from a plan."