9 durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday,February 3, 2022 4900 Thickson Road North Whitby • (905) 655-9954 Soil | Mulch | Aggregate | Decorative Stone | Interlock Natural Stone | Landscape Lighting | Pond Supplies Mon - Fri 7:00am - 5pm Closed Saturday & Sunday Don't Be Left Out In The Cold! Get Your Ice Melters Now!! Don't forget to pick up your salt scoop, shovel and gloves with your pet friendly bio-basedice melter! Over 71% less corrosive than salt Effective to -30c All natural corrosion inhibitor All natural anti-caking agent Made with 100% renewable resource Contains no magnesium or CMA $1399 $1699 Garant Snow Shovels $2999 $3499 21" 26" 13 Made with 100% r 1399 Bag Garant Snow Shovels $699 TWX Gloves Family Owned And Operated Since 1953Family Owned And Operated Since 1953 733 KINGSTON RD. E. AJAX MON-WED/SATMON-WED/SATMON-WED/SA :T:T 9AM-6pM, THURS/FRI: 9AM-7pM SUN AND HOlIDAyS:HOlIDAyS:HOlIDA 10AM-5pM @macmillanorchards1953 INCREDIBLE BARGAIN! ThEsE PIEs ARE ALL #1 QuALITy,QuALITy,QuALITy FuLLyFuLLyFuLL BAkED AND hAvEhAvEhA sLIGhT ImPERFECTIoNs 8" sTRAWBERRy/ RhuBARB oR ChERRy (NsA) REGuLARLy $7.95 EACh 2 FoR $5 10" BLuEBERRy oR sTRAWBERRy/ RhuBARB REGuLARLy $12.95 EACh 2 FoR $10 Dundas Street in Whitby. Then, the secondary roads that lead to them and bring them residential traffic are done. Why, you ask? So that emergency vehicles like fire trucks have a clear path, as they are the priority in any storm. Finally, residential streets are cleared. They are the final priority and in a huge storm like we had a few weeks ago, it could take days to get all the residential streets in a municipality completely cleared. Now let's talk numbers: Complaints: In Oshawa, on Tuesday, Jan. 18, Service Oshawa re- ceived 1700-plus calls, 250- plus emails and 250-plus chats in the one day. In Clarington, there were 442 logged service requests associated with the storm. Of those, 263 were related to municipal snowplowing operations, 143 were asking about contracted services (sidewalk clearing and seniors snow clearing program), 16 were for information only. In Pickering, there were 1,836 telephone calls be- tween Jan. 17 and Jan. 21 (for comparison, the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 14 saw 529 telephone calls). Ajax and Whitby did not Ajax and Whitby did not provide data on complaints. Windrow clearing: Windrows comprise the snow left over at the bottom of your driveway after the snowplow comes along. No Durham municipality clears all its residential windrows as it is expensive. It's been considered in some municipalities in past years and voted down. What is provided? Oshawa: Snow-clearing assistance offered to those 65 and older and those with a disability. You must sign up for the program and you are only eligible if you live in a home where there is no one living with you who is not disabled or under the age of 65. Pickering: Does not clear windrows. Whitby: Clears wind-rows of those 65 and older and those with a disability. You must sign up for the program and you are only eligible if you live in a home where there is no one living with you who is not disa- bled or under the age of 65. Clarington: Does not clear windrows. Ajax did not provide information. How many staff do you have for snow-clearing? Oshawa: No answer pro- vided. Whitby: The town said it has more than 100 staff dedicated to the snow clearing of roads, sidewalks, trails and other facilities. In addition, it has contracted services for assisting with winter road maintenance. Pickering: It has 40 staff for winter-control operations on city roads, plus 24 parks staff to provide winter control on city-maintained sidewalks as well as fire halls. Parks and roads are supported by 15 fleet staff that maintain the city's fleet of vehicles. The city also has a contractor that takes care of seniors. people with accessibility issues and facility parking lots. Clarington: Public Works has 59 full-time and two part-time employees involved in winter-control operations. It also has three full-time administrative employees that are involved in storm support and customer service. Ajax did not provide information. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The week of Jan. 17-21 everybody was talking about snow. So we wanted to find out more about how local municipalities clear snow and try to dig deeper into the facts and figures behind what service is provided. NEWS OSHAWA, WHITBY CLEAN WINDROWS, CLARINGTON DOES NOT Continued from front SCAN THE CODE to read more Whitby news at durhamregion.com. A STRONGER VOICE We recognize that diversity is the strength of our communities and we are inviting you to share your voice in our publications. DURHAMREGION.COM/COMMUNITYDIVERSITY