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Toronto – Mother Nature will soon be playing a bigger role in Toronto’s winter maintenance.

CFRB has learned that Transportation Services is trying to cut back on their 65 million dollar budget by making some reductions to their services – on top of the cost containment measures already in place.

Right now, snow removal starts after eight centimetres are on the ground, and the snow has stopped.  Side streets are usually plowed within 15-25 hours after the storm, and sidewalks within 48 hours.

But Gary Welsh, general manager of Transportation Services says things are about to change slightly, as they try to cut back on their 65 million dollar operating budget.

“We’re going to analyze each storm before it comes and make decisions during the storm to see if maybe there are certain services that we do not have to provide, because probably over the next day, it’ll get a lot warmer, the sun will come out, and Mother Nature does her thing about melting the snow instead of us having to clear the snow.”

Welsh says it was really a choice of where they could afford to cut – summer maintenance like pothole repair or winter maintenance, and they decided it wasn’t possible to cut back on road repair. He adds the service reductions are fairly minor.

“Probably the public will not notice.  We feel that if it’s really managed well, we can save some money, meet Council’s cost containment objectives, and really not discomfort the general public to a great degree.
Welsh says the action should shave about five million dollars from their 65 million dollar operating budget.

Source CFRB