At Westmount’s April council meeting, The Westmount Walking and Cycling Association presented the city with a Snowbank Award for poor snow cleaning of the bike path through Westmount this past winter.
There are four categories of awards for snow cleaning. Gold Snowflake, Silver Snowflake, Bronze Snowflake and Snowbank. They are based on the number of days that the bike path is closed due to snow. The Snowbank Award is for poor removal of snow. Last December the path was closed for 15 days due to snow (50%) and a total of 36 days this past winter (36%).
The city does not clear the snow as quickly as our neighbouring communities of Ville Marie and NDG.
The WWCA blames the problem on the order in which streets get cleaned in Westmount and not on the public works employees. De Maisonneuve Boulevard should be placed early on the snow cleaning schedule. The Association hopes to be able to present a Gold Snowflake to the city next year which means that the bike path would never be closed due to snowfall.
L'association des piétons et cyclistes de westmount (APCW) Association of Pedestrians and Cyclists of Westmount 