“At first glance, I thought it sounded like a really bad idea,” Jess Spieker, of Friends and Family For Safe Streets, told CTV News Toronto.  “I immediately thought of the names of all the names I know of people who have been hit and killed by cement mixer operators.  It’s an alarmingly long list.”
The most recent known cement truck fatality was in November 2021 near Dundas and Sherbourne streets, when a woman in her 60s who used a wheelchair was fatally struck.
Spieker says that in many cases the drivers of these vehicles don’t know they’ve hit someone because of the sheer size of the trucks.
“These vehicles are quite dangerous in normal conditions such as a summer day in full daylight.  All the collisions I know of happened during the day in good weather,” he said.  “So it seems a lot scarier to suggest that you bolt a snow plow to one of these vehicles and leave it on the roads.”
City Municipality.  Josh Matlow is also speaking out, calling the decision to add more cement trucks to city roads during a snowstorm “when our roads are already dangerous is irresponsible.”
“Cement trucks have been involved in a disproportionate number of tragic deaths on our city’s roads in recent years,” tweeted Matlow, who said he was unaware until recently that cement trucks would be part of the winter maintenance fleet.  Position.
“City staff should have notified the City prior to taking this unusual step.”
But city officials say there’s nothing to worry about, as the three-axle convertibles aren’t much different from those used to remove snow in Toronto in the past.
According to Vincent Sferrazza, the city’s director of operations and maintenance, the retrofitted cement trucks will be used exclusively on major arterial roads and will be equipped with a number of additional safety features such as blind spot mirrors, on-board cameras, lighting.  , and flags to make them more visible to the general public.  Drivers will also be required to complete safety training.
He also stressed that residents should not see any difference in terms of plowing.
“We will make sure the safety of the community is maintained throughout the winter,” Sferrazza said.
The 33 vehicles are a small part of Toronto’s 1,100-vehicle snow removal fleet, and Sferrazza says it’s not unusual for three-axle vehicles to be used in this way.
“Every type of three-axle vehicle is modified for the winter.  So this is nothing new for the city of Toronto,” he told CTV News Toronto.  “What’s different is that instead of a dump truck, which we still use for this upcoming winter season, there will be a cement mixer.”
The cement drum mixer is added to the vehicle primarily for stability and balance, Sferrazza noted.
“Everything else about the vehicle is the same, and what’s been modified is that a blade, a plow, is equipped on the front so that it can actually clear the snow off a road,” he said.
Toronto City Council approved the billion-dollar winter maintenance fleet in December 2021, just before a major snowstorm hits the GTA.
In just 15 hours, about 55cm of snow fell in the city, forcing roads to be closed and the mayor to declare a “major blizzard state”.
It cost the city more than $17 million, or nearly 20 percent of its annual winter maintenance budget, to clear the 180,000 tons of snow that fell on streets and sidewalks.
The new winter maintenance contracts are for seven years of service, with an optional additional three years.