Winter has been a problem, especially for those on the plows
By Bill Rea

If you think this winter has been a headache for you, imagine the problems that have been experienced by those responsible for keeping the local roads clear of snow.

Crews manning the plows on King Township roads have been putting in some very long hours lately, and there's no clear word on when this will all end.

The weekend was a rough time for the crews, according to King's Director of Operations Jody LaPlante.

He said his crews were split Saturday, with some of them starting at 4 a.m. to clean up the dumping of snow that started falling Friday and working until about noon, with the rest of the crews coming on in the afternoon. Sunday was a different story, with all hands on deck at 2 a.m. and working until about 5 p.m.

LaPlante said there are 11 people on hand to man the 10 plows, and some of them ended up catching a few hours of sleep at the Township's works yard.

The weekend was the latest offering of what has been a very rough winter. LaPlante reported late last week that that there's been salt shortage, requiring rationing.

He said there's been more than five and half feet of snow on the local roads so far.

LaPlante said they had indications ahead of time what kind of winter was on the way. "At the beginning of the year, we saw we were going to be having lot of snow this year," he commented.

"The stress level's been up a little bit more than the norm," he commented. "They're looking forward to spring time."

As well, LaPlante said there's concern about the water levels in Lake Simcoe, which he said is at an all-time high. The Washago Gates were opened in December, about a month earlier than usual, to help reduce the levels and ease fears of flooding.

"So far, the lake has gone down since they opened up the gates, but you never know what the weather's going to bring up," he commented.