With the return of the snow comes the start of snow removal operations and the familiar sound that accompanies them, tow truck horns calling to order motorists who forgot to move.
But the city of Montreal is planning to remove these sound signals, which annoys many people, or at least reduce their use.
A pilot project will be conducted over the winter to allow those responsible for snow removal to “understand the impact of reducing or stopping fluting on operational delays,” the city indicated in a written response to our following questions.
Municipal authorities are often questioned about this noise pollution.
In 2022, it seems too much to me to wake up an entire neighborhood in the middle of the night for a few motorists who forgot their vehicle on the street, with noise affecting sleep and health.
A citizen during the recent City Council question period
“It’s true that being woken up by snow removal sirens can be very frustrating, especially for people who don’t have a car and live in dense neighborhoods,” the case manager admitted to the panel. The administrator, Maja Vodanovic, answered this citizen.
He pointed out that these sirens are banned at night, but the time they stop in the evening varies from one city to another.
“Users Waiting for ‘Pimpan'”
Vehicles parked on the street must always be towed when snow removal operations are scheduled, which can delay snow removal operations.
“There are still a lot of vehicles on site when we arrive to clear the snow, because many people are waiting for the “pimp” to move their vehicle,” noted Martin Savard, director of the Metropolitan Advisory Service, during the meeting. He appeared before the finance and administration committee last week.
As part of the pilot program, snow removal crews will be able to observe the number of vehicles to be towed on a street where a tow truck siren is used, compared to other streets where there will be no audible signal, a- he explained.
The number of no-parking signs can also be increased to ensure that motorists have to move their vehicles.
However, even without the sirens used by the tractors, “people would still be woken up by the sound of the engines,” said Mr. Savard pointed out.
Number of hauls during snow loading operations in recent winters:
2021-2022 : 33,061 pulls (5 loads)
2020-2021 : 24,791 hauls (5 loads)
2019-2020 : 38,398 pulls (5 loads)
Learn more
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- 162 cm
- Snowfall in winter 2021-2022
Source: City of Montreal
- 197 cm
- Snowfall in winter 2020-2021
Source: City of Montreal
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