Snow removal crews in Chatham-Kent are still out on the roads, clearing the way for drivers across the municipality.
The plows have been out since 6am Sunday.
Chatham-Kent's Public Works Director Miguel Pelletier says the snowfall came a bit early in the season, but they've been preparing for a snowfall like this for weeks.
"You may have seen some of our snowplows were driving around Chatham-Kent even though there was no snow," says Pelletier. "They were preparing, learning their routes, making sure the equipment works, and making sure we had our stockpile of salt."
Pelletier says highways and roads around police stations, hospitals and fire halls will be cleared first then crews will take care of the rest of the streets.
He admits cul-de-sacs can be difficult to clear -- especially if there are a lot of cars parked in them -- but the municipality has plans in place for those smaller residential streets as well.
"We do have contracts with contractors who have smaller equipment so that they are able to go in and clear those a little quicker than if we waited for our own internal resources to become free," says Pelletier.
In case you are wondering how the municipality determines which roads take priority, Pelletier says the municipality has also set up a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) website this year to help address some of those concerns.
"We had a page on our website, but it hadn't been refreshed in a while, so we refreshed it," says Pelletier. "We're trying to be proactive and we're hoping to send out some safety tips as well."
Some of the questions on the list include: "Which streets get plowed first and why," "When does the municipality declare a snow emergency," -- and "Does the municipality come back to remove snow its plows have dumped in my driveway?"
You can find all of the answers to those questions and more on the FAQ website by clicking here.
