Winter storm warning in effect for Montreal area
CBC News | Posted: December 28, 2015 11:31 AM | Last Updated: December 29, 2015
Snowstorm expected for Montreal Island, Laval, Longueuil and Châteauguay
Winter weather is finally here.
A winter storm warning is in effect for the areas of Montreal, Laval, Longueuil and Châteauguay.
Snowfall is expected to start Monday night and last until Wednesday morning.
The storm is expected to bring in anywhere from 20 to 35 centimetres of snow.
Centralized snow-removal plan
The storm will be the first big test for the City of Montreal's new centralized snow-removal policy, which Mayor Denis Coderre unveiled in August.
The new policy has the City of Montreal taking on a bigger role in removing snow in order to improve coordination across the city's 19 boroughs.
A centralized snow removal policy will synchronize operations in each borough in order to ensure comparable service is delivered across the city.
The city will order boroughs to clear snow after 10 centimetres of accumulation.
Boroughs will have 12 hours to begin clearing snow and 36 hours to complete operations on main arteries.
Boroughs that don't follow the city's orders will face financial repercussions.
Info-Neige app and bike paths
Residents in 18 of the city's 19 boroughs (L'Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève is the exception) will be able to use the Info-Neige mobile application, which is linked to GPS-tracked snow-clearing equipment.
The app's map shows cleared roads in green, roads where clearing is in progress in purple, and roads that have yet to be cleared in red.
The storm will also test out the city's new commitment to clear 395 kilometres of bike paths at the same time as the roads.
The city's Vélo 4 Saisons map will be updated to reflect the routes that will be cleared.