Council Wants Answers From Transportation Officials on Snow Removal

ARICHAT - With less than two weeks to go before spring arrives, Richmond County's municipal councillors are still looking for answers about delays in plowing several county roads following the biggest snowfall of the winter. 

Council has asked Richmond Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Don Marchand to contact the South Inverness-Richmond District Office of Nova Scotia's Transportation and Active Transit (TAT) Department, in the hopes of convening a meeting that would also involve Richmond's Emergency Management Office (EMO) chair and municipal councillors.

At issue is the length of time TAT crews take to clear off so-called "by-roads" around the county. These local paved roads, along with gravel roads, subdivisions and most residential streets, are only paved 24 hours after a major snow event ends, according to information posted on the TAT Web site. 

By contrast, it's only a 12-hour wait for secondary routes and other medium-traffic roads, while 100-series highways, trunk highways and other high-traffic roads are to be cleared no later than eight hours after a significant snowfall wraps up.

All five members of Richmond Municipal Council confirmed that they had received complaints from county residents about the TAT plowing schedule, immediately following a major snowstorm that blew through the Strait area over a 36-hour period from February 8-10. 

In response to the TAT insistence that "by-roads" need only be plowed 24 hours after snow stops, District 1 Councillor Shawn Samson noted that, at one point of the storm, the snow continued to fill Isle Madame roadways for 12 consecutive hours, presenting dangers for many of his constituents. 

In the meantime, as they wait for communication from the TAT South Inverness-Richmond office, Deputy Warden Michael Diggdon isn't wasting any time directing county residents to TAT officials. During the February 22 regular council session in Arichat, Diggdon urged constituents to call the local TAT office at (902) 625-2540 to personally register their complaints.