Montreal calls for patience with snow removal

About half of the snow on Montreal's streets and sidewalks will be cleared out by Wednesday but the job won't be finished until the weekend, a city official says.

Marcel Tremblay, executive city council member in charge of snow removal, said Tuesday that snow-clearing crews are exhausted from working around the clock. But he promised that crews are focused on moving as much snow as possible to allow Montrealers to get back to their regular routines after a weekend storm dumped more than 30 centimetres of snow on the city.

"I'm telling you, it's hard, and it's going to take us a certain while. That's why I'm saying to the people it's going to take us a big week."

Tremblay asked for patience and reminded people that everyone is fed up with the snow. "It's not a question of morale. It's basically a question that people are getting tired."

The storm dumped even more snow in central Quebec and Quebec City. Central and eastern Ontario were also hit, with Ottawa reporting about 50 cm of snow.

In Montreal, most major streets were still clogged with towering snowbanks on Tuesday and traffic was slowed by large plows.

Meanwhile, pedestrians were also often using the streets to avoid walking on sidewalks clogged with ice and snow.

Police warned people to be careful if they choose to walk on the street because the snowbanks make it hard for drivers to see them.