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This article was published 21/11/2014 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There will be no help for homeowners with back lanes this winter.

The public works department says after reviewing the plowing situation, there is no viable alternative to how back lanes are plowed – leaving homeowners on their own when it comes to clearing windrows from their properties.

Public works directors Brad Sacher said last winter was the most severe Winnipeg had seen in 118 years.

"We have to be careful not to over-respond to the experience of last winter," Sacher said.

Winnipeg has 885 kilometres of back lanes. With all the snow the city got last winter, Sacher said crews had to clear 79 per cent more back lanes than the typical winter.

While the city clears windrows from front driveways after residential streets are plowed, windrows along back lanes are not cleared. The city’s position has been that back lanes are too narrow for large equipment to manuevre and the situation is made worse with the proximity of garages and fences.

But last winter saw homeowners on back lanes literally walled into their properties, with windrows several feet high and thick.

Sacher said the condition of backlanes was made worse when homeowners shoveled snow back onto the lanes after they’d been cleared. Lane traffic compressed the snow, resulting in hard-pack, ice-like snow. Crews had to plow deeper to remove ridges, and all that material was pushed up onto rear yards.

"That was all part and parcel of the brutal winter that we had," Sacher said.

That situation prompted city council to ask the public works department to review its practice.

'Underwhelmed'

East Kildonan resident Leslie Fitt said he understands the department’s reasoning but said the back lane situation last year was compounded by inconsistent plowing practices.

"They’d just skim off a bit the first few times they came down the lane but the last time they went right down to the concrete and threw up these huge chunks," Fitt said. "They were so big, I had to get my wife to help me lift them."

Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) said he was "underwhelmed," with the public works report, adding he thought the department failed to produce options for council’s consideration.

"They only really looked at one option – clearing all windrows from all back lanes – and that really wasn’t an option anyone thought was realistic," Orlikow said.

Public works should have considered various plowing practices depending on the amount of snowfall and the width of back lanes, Orlikow said, adding he will pressure public works to consider other backlane plowing alternatives.

$6,500 per kilometre cost

Sacher said his department considered two options to clear windrows and neither proved viable: attaching large, industrial-sized augers or blowers to front-end loaders accompanied by large trucks to haul away the snow; or, using smaller equipment, like bobcats or skid-steers.

Sacher said department staff felt that using skid-steers would be more expensive, take longer to do, more complicated to schedule and result in extensive damage to rear yard garages and fences.

"We’d see an astronomical increase in damage to private property and damage claims from residents."

Using blowers attached to front-end loaders was manageable, Sacher said, but it would also take longer and be much more expensive – it costs the city $250 per kilometre to clear back lanes now but using blowers dramatically increased the price to $6,500 per kilometre.

"It became very cost-prohibitive to do it and the amount of time to complete the lanes would be very protracted."

An administrative report to next week’s public works committee states, placing the cost and time factors aside, the city would either have to purchase more blowers or encourage contractors to hire the equipment, which would take two seasons, and with the assurance that the new practice would remain in place for several years to make it worthwhile for them to make the necessary investment – neither option seemed practical.

A formal report will be made Tuesday to the public works committee.

Sacher said, pending council’s endorsement, the department will not change its methods but will monitor developments across the industry for any practical solutions.

"We’ll continue to look for new technologies, new best practices. If something comes along, we’ll certainly be on top of that. Maybe in the future, there will be a way to do this cost-effectively and in a timely manner."

aldo.santin@freepress.mb.ca