'Just covered in ice and water': 145 weekend calls for tows in Manitoba back lanes amid spring thaw
Snow clearing crews and tow trucks had a busy weekend trying to keep up with Manitoba’s back lanes.
William Pooley and his neighbours have been struggling with the mess in their back lane brought on by the spring thaw.
“It just seems to be sort of like a half effort for all this stuff,” Pooley said in an interview with CTV News Winnipeg. He said his alley was cleared three times on Saturday but many of his neighbours still got stuck.
On the next street over, Matthew Csuk is having the same problem.
“Our back lane is just covered in ice and water,” Csuk said. “You can’t pass through it."
CAA Manitoba was called to 145 alleys and laneways from Friday to Sunday.
“It was really unusual for us to get that many tow calls,” CAA Manitoba’s Heather Mack said. The government and community relations worker said not everyone who called CAA was able to get towed out.
“There were some vehicles that were still so stuck we still couldn’t remove them out of the back alley.” Mack said.
The city said it is finishing up the last bit of its back lane cleaning operations.
Ken Allen, the public works communication coordinator, said in an interview, ‘’We have about 930 kilometres of back lanes that need to be cleared.”
Allen is expecting alleys to need more attention with the changing weather conditions,
“As long as we are into this time of the season where the temperatures are above zero during the day and below zero at night, we are going to be experiencing that freeze-thaw cycle.”
Pooley said many of his neighbours are seniors and cannot keep up with the ice and puddles.
He said he was dealing with chunks of concrete scraped to the curb and gigantic potholes after Monday morning’s snow crews came down his street. Pooley said his street was in need of repairs, but now the street has been damaged further.
“I hardly believe this is the only street in Winnipeg that looks like this after they’ve been down here,” Pooley said.
Allen said it is not unexpected for there to have been some damage throughout the city after the difficult winter. He said if damage was done during snow clearing, it could be exposed when the snow melts.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife’s edge.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Mediterranean staple may lower your risk of death from dementia, study finds
A daily spoonful of olive oil could lower your risk of dying from dementia, according to a new study by Harvard scientists.
Winnipeg man admits to killing four women, argues he's not criminally responsible
Defence lawyers of Jeremy Skibicki have admitted in court the accused killed four Indigenous women, but argues he is not criminally responsible for the deaths by way of mental disorder – this latest development has triggered a judge-alone trial rather than a jury trial.
An El Nino-less summer is coming. Here's what that could mean for Canada
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Man banned from owning animals after fatal Calgary dog attack
The owner of three Calgary dogs that got loose and mauled a woman to death in 2022 has been ordered to pay a $15,000 fine within one year and banned from owning any animal for 15 years.
Have you been removed from your family doctor’s patient list for visiting an Ontario walk-in clinic?
Some Ontarians are expressing frustration after they said that they were removed from their family doctor’s patient list for visiting a walk-in clinic in a process being called “de-rostering.”
East-end Ottawa family dealing with massive rat infestation
Residents in Ottawa’s Elmridge Gardens complex are dealing with a rat infestation that just won’t go away. Now, after doing everything they can to try to fix the issue, they are pleading with the city to step in and help.
Canadian government proposes new foreign influence registry as part of wide-spanning new bill
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is proposing a suite of new measures and law changes aimed at countering foreign interference in Canada, amid extensive scrutiny over past meddling attempts and an ever-evolving threat landscape.