Saint John residents mourn city’s response to icy conditions – New Brunswick | The Canadian News

The mayor of Saint John admitted her city was not ready for Wednesday’s falling temperatures that turned roads and sidewalks into ice sheets.

Donna Reardon made the remarks following dozens of comments on social media from residents who are angry about what they believe was a lack of timely response from snow plows and road crews.

One video posted on Facebook shows a driver spinning against a hill in Westmorland Road several times. It has been viewed more than 100,000 times since Thursday afternoon.

Alison Davidson, a personal caregiver, told Global News she feels like she’s taking her life into her own hands on her ride to work.

“So when you look down a street, it’s like an iceberg,” she said. “Like a skating rink. And so the street lights or whatever, it just reflects off this bright surface. ”

Joe Hatfield said he started fishing tail a number of times early in the evening.

“Climbing hills was difficult and downhill was simply dangerous because steering was a problem,” Hatfield said. “And it only got worse.”

“I practice being a volunteer firefighter and I was scared of people last night,” said Sara Lee Belyea. “I stopped and (sic) helped a lot of people if they fell or just asked if they were okay when they would drop off. It was absolutely not necessary for what happened. “

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The weather changed through a day that began with steady, light snowfall in the city.

Rain took over the afternoon before a sharp drop in temperature created the icy conditions.

Saint John Transit buses were taken out of service late in the day.

Donna Reardon, mayor of Saint John, said snow plows and teams came off the road during the rain because any salt and sand that had been scattered washed away. Reardon admitted the city was caught off guard by the sudden drop in temperature.

“You can’t put your own teams at risk,” Reardon said. “And it became clear that teams out there would be in danger because we could not keep the trucks on the road. So we had to subtract them. I mean, it’s just fair to be safe. ”

Reardon said the city’s Winter Management Plan works, but added that officials need to communicate more clearly when teams are picked up and put back on the road.

Davidson said road conditions this winter are the worst she has ever seen. She said it makes it challenging to meet her obligations to her clients.

“They need me,” Davidson said. “I can not just keep looking out my window and saying, ‘Oh, look, no plows have passed. I canceled. ‘ Sometimes it’s not an option. ”