Tonight, while walking home from work through the Quartier International, my co-worker pointed out that the entrance to the Square-Victoria Metro station has yet to be ploughed, despite the fact that the most recent snowstorm ended more than a day ago. As a result, narrow, haphazard paths (about six in total) made by commuters wind their way to the stairs from different parts of the square. The aforementioned co-worker noted that this isn’t the only station with this problem, citing Lionel-Groulx as another example, although I haven’t been there to see for myself.So why is the STM not shovelling the entrances of their stations, especially stations as busy and important as Square-Victoria, therefore forcing passengers to practically do it themselves? Safety issues come into play here: the makeshift paths are too narrow and windy for those with disabilities, especially people who use walking devices to comfortably and safely traverse them. Furthermore, if snow at the station entrance isn’t being shovelled, it can be assumed that proper measures also aren’t being taken to ensure that ice doesn’t accumulate. Indeed, the packed snow of the pathways will soon turn to ice which will make for an extremely slippery and dangerous walk for commuters.Is this normal practice for the STM to not shovel snow from the Metro Stations? I can’t recall ever noticing this last winter, however, Square Victoria and other stations that aren’t built right up to the street (and are therefore automatically ploughed by the city) were not stations that I regularly got off at last year.
Why is the STM not shovelling the Square-Victoria Metro entrance?
By Chris Erb
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4 comments
Nor does the STM shovel in front of the Vendôme or Mont-Royal metro stations, though the latter seems to get enough foot-traffic to flatten out the snow.
Victoria Square and Place Gérald-Godin (the plaza in front of Mont-Royal metro) are both public squares and thus the responsibility of the city.
I’m trying to remember if the city clears any of its other squares. I don’t think so. Phillips Square is usually unplowed in the winter.
Those who know the area around Square-Victoria enough will likely know to go to any of the four other entrances that give onto the square, including the covered entrance in the square on the block below. But to our tourists it’s a shame, and to locals it’s one more inconvenience.
The high maintenance in winter is probably why the MTC only has two such open metro entrances – and the other one (for Bonaventure station) is covered by the eave(?) to Windsor Station.
The area around Place St-Henri Metro station also has “poor” snow clearance. The few meters between the sidewalk and the stairs to the metro station is rarely shoveled after a snow fall (especially the entrance across the street from the fire hall). Maybe it is the arrondissement’s responsibility and the STM doesn’t bother to clear the snow beyond its property.
On a good note, the staff at Place-St-Henri do clear and salt the stairs into the station very quickly, which is always a relief after one climbs over the snow bank to get to the stairs.