Duane Hicks
Peggy Revell
FORT FRANCES—Local residents most likely will be looking forward to the end of a frigid cold snap that saw wind chills plunge below minus-40 C, school bus cancellations, car troubles, and the town unable to improve slippery road conditions.
On the bright side, the heavy snow that’s fallen so far this winter has provided sufficient insulation to stave off frozen water lines.
“We haven’t had any problems with watermain breaks,” Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said Thursday morning, adding one pipe was frozen at the dog pound because it’s used intermittently while another residential line broke because the homeowner didn’t have any heat on.
“We’ve got lots of snow, so there’s lots of insulation. We haven’t had any watermain issues at all,” he added, though noting it’s more common to see breaks in late March when the snow melts and the ground thaws.
Brown said the bitter cold hasn’t necessarily caused more breakdowns with the town’s heavy equipment, such as snowplows, but it has affected efforts to improve slippery road conditions.
“One of the biggest issues I have is because it’s been so cold, the sand doesn’t work as effective as it should—it gets blown off the intersections and everything stays slippery,” he explained.
“Once it warms up, you’ll see us peeling off intersections so that we get down to bare pavement in areas,” he added. “Right now, the bumps don’t even move—it’s like concrete.”
But Brown did say town has made good progress removing snowbanks around town after the dumping we’ve received so far this winter. Since Jan. 5, the town has rented three tandem trucks to help remove all that snow.
They’ll revert back to using the town’s own trucks after Monday.
Following the town’s snow removal priority list, snow has been cleared from the overpass, underpass, and the downtown core, some parking lots, and various residential areas. Snowbanks in the west end of town were removed last night.
“During the day, it’s hard to do the main highway, so we go and do offroads and side streets,” Brown noted. “At night, we do the main arteries because there’s less traffic.”
He explained the plowing of sidewalks and removal of large snowbanks can fall behind a bit between Christmas and early January due to the statutory holidays, when Public Works is running a “skeleton crew” at that time.
But since then, they’ve caught up on these jobs.
While it’s impossible to please everyone, Brown said the town hasn’t had too many complaints about snow removal this winter.
“I’ve had more positive than negative this year,” he noted.
But one thing is for sure—the town will be using more of its snow removal budget than last year.
For example, Brown said it’s cost the town about $12,000 to rent the aforementioned extra trucks to haul away snow in the past two weeks. From last January to December, the town only spent $2,600 altogether to rent extra trucks for that same purpose.
“We are spending more money on hauling snow because we’ve got more of it. It happens, we get behind,” he remarked. “And I think, overall, people are patient.”
For students across the district, the cold snap has meant some time off school as buses have been cancelled for the past few days.
“When the weather gets this cold, it’s difficult for the buses to start up and maintain full operation,” explained Jack McMaster, director of education for the Rainy River District School Board.
“It’s really the bus operators’ call,” he noted. “They look at it and if they feel it’s unsafe, they’re not going to put student safety at risk.”
Cold weather and heavy snow are the two things school bus operators take into consideration on whether it is safe for a bus route to be completed, McMaster explained.
“I think parents just need to know to listen to the radio anytime we get down into the minus-40s, with wind chills,” he stressed.
“The last thing we need is a child that has to spend some time outside. We know that within minutes, any skin that’s exposed can be frostbitten, and that’s not something we want.
“If you’re stranded on the road at minus-40, it puts kids in peril,” McMaster warned.
The current cold snap also has meant car trouble for many across the district.
The number of calls coming in for help has doubled compared to this time last year, staff at North Auto estimated Thursday morning.
“A lot of it has been pretty much boosts, and the sad part is that the company that we haul for have such a long list of calls, the time to wait for a tow truck is ridiculous,” they noted.
“But we’ve been able to keep up on everybody here.
“All we can say is that in these cold snaps, if you have to go out anywhere, be prepared. Lots of blankets, and wear proper clothing,” North Auto staff advised.
Despite the cold, North Auto has received calls where people have been wearing running shoes, pyjama bottoms, and other clothing that aren’t weather appropriate.
“Most of the calls, we’ve been fortunate. The people who are around here, they’ve been close to home or another building. It’s not like they’ve been stranded on the highway.
“We’ve only had a couple, and that’s when we get to them as soon as possible so that they don’t freeze.”
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
