It was way back in November when the City’s roads staff first invited me to ride along on one of their plowing trucks. When I heard about this weekend’s snowfall warning, I knew that this would be a great chance to see firsthand how Stittsville’s roads get cleared. Ma première invitation à bord d’un camion chasse-neige de la voirie municipale remonte au mois de novembre, mais quand j’ai entendu parler de la bordée attendue durant la fin de semaine, j’ai réalisé que ce serait une occasion parfaite pour découvrir comment sont dégagés les routes de Stittsville.
I joined Nick, a 10-year snow plowing veteran, for two hours on Sunday morning. We managed to cover about half of his 33.25-kilometre route, snaking through the side streets around Jonathan Pack Street and Brae Crescent. This was just one part of his 12-hour shift, which started at 7:00am. He would continue all afternoon and into the early evening to help clear the roads in time for Monday morning’s commute.
A big thank you to Nick and all of his colleagues on the roads team for clearing our streets after a massive dump of snow this weekend!
(Can you tell I had just a bit of fun this morning? 😀)
My ride this morning. Riding along on a snow clearing beat through #Stittsville pic.twitter.com/yxVltCKKGR
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
My snow plow driver is Nick, who has been at this for 10 years. Says he loves this job. pic.twitter.com/28DQYwINiM
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
#Stittsville Main Street pic.twitter.com/6WuU9pnDyQ
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Our beat today in the central part of #Stittsville. Drivers use a GPS screen that shows the route but have a paper copy in the cab as back-up. pic.twitter.com/VOi0JJXZFY
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Manchester Street pic.twitter.com/UMZLDvNBGr
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Meeting up with a sidewalk plow on Abbott. pic.twitter.com/M77zFsCKNI
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
"Like a piano" pic.twitter.com/yUeWDYMZqL
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Crossing paths with a snowmobile. We've seen a few today. pic.twitter.com/EKSoHIU8h7
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Today's operations include a fleet of city-owned plows (like the one I'm in) and private snow plows (like the one passing by in this video). pic.twitter.com/4D26YLHHum
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
Here's what it looks like when we have to go around a parked car. The bane of a plow driver's existence. pic.twitter.com/R5RgxTQec2
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019
I hopped off after 2 hours, about midway through the beat. Nick's 12-hour shift started at 7am so he still has a long day ahead to get the streets ready for Monday's commute. Thanks to Nick and the entire roads team for their hard work today. pic.twitter.com/mDzsia4iMx
— Glen Gower 🇨🇦 (@glengower) January 20, 2019