School bus service starts to return in Timmins, Ont.

Almost a month after a major winter storm hit Timmins, Ont., school buses are almost operating again at a normal schedule, but some people have been frustrated with how long the clean up is taking.

On December 28, about 60 cm of snow fell in the city. That’s the amount the community usually gets in a month.

Since then, the city has been working to clear away the snow and several school bus routes have been cancelled since then. The routes have started resuming.

School bus driver and mother Brittny Merenda hasn’t driven her bus since the storm. She’s set to head back to work on Thursday morning.

“Honestly, I’m a little bit nervous because as a driver, it’s pretty crazy,” she said.

“There’s so many little streets that you’re dodging these huge snow banks and you kind of feel like doing a little zigzag down a straight street. Many times, you have to kind of stop in somebody’s driveway just to let other people go because only one car can go at a time.”

Merenda has a seven year old son and an 18 month old. She said she’s been walking with her son to school, but said that’s been challenging on cold days.

“We’ve had to keep him at home a little bit more than I would have liked,” she said.

“In the past two and a half weeks, he’s maybe really only gone five days total. He really misses his friends more than anything.”

Tori Pichette’s been working to get her four-year-old to school, but said she has safety concerns.

“I’m still driving him,” she said. “But a lot of the side streets are in really rough shape. Some of them could probably be a one-way now.”

The supervisor of the North East Tri-Board Student Transportation group, Ryan Hartling, said as of Wednesday, they had 57 of the 77 school buses on the road.

“Now, 33 of those that are on the road do have some stops that are not being serviced,” He said.

“However, those buses are out and there’s no more than four stops per run that would not be serviced. We have quite a few that are out at this point and every day, we’re adding more.”

Hartling said he’s in regular contact with the municipality about which roads are cleared and when. He said he’s hoping full service will resume in the coming week.

'Being cautious'

Hartling said he understands why some parents are frustrated.

“We have to remain on the side of safety for this,” he said.

“We have to make sure that the paths are safe for our buses to travel. We’re being cautious.”

He encourages parents to sign up for notifications from his group to know which routes are running and which aren’t.

The City of Timmins declined a request for an update on how the clearing of snow is going, stating crews are working to get lanes widened.

It added that by the end of the week, crews will have removed 8,000 loads of snow or 160,000 cubic metres.

The city is still looking for contractors who could assist to haul away the snow.