System that replaced old sandwich boards is ‘unreliable,’ say several residents
If it’s January, then there are probably complaints about the City of Laval’s snow removal operations and wintertime street parking – even though this wasn’t supposed to be happening.
In January 2024, according to Laval News files, Laval city council awarded a contract for the installation of new electronic parking signage on a range of streets in districts that included Chomedey.
In principle, this was supposed to put an end to a litany of complaints coming from residents all over Laval about the confusing way the city had previously been managing snow removal in residential neighbourhoods.
Changes over past two winters
For decades, the city’s policy (similar to that of other municipalities) was to place wooden sandwich-board signs beforehand in snow banks that were scheduled to be taken away. Another part of the policy forbade wintertime parking on certain sides of the street to facilitate snow removal.
This changed over the last two winters as the city began ramping up the new system of electronic signage. The signs, which are programmable remotely, allow municipal employees to inform motorists and residents in “real time.”
When functioning, the new illuminated panels light up as needed to display specific times when snow removal (or street cleaning operations during the summer) are taking place. The city decided to opt for the system following tests with several pilot projects over the past few years on Laval’s territory.
Complaints about new system
Despite the City of Laval’s hopes that the new electronic signage would lead to a reduction in the vast number of complaints about poor snow removal the city received every winter, The Laval News touched base with several residents last week, complaining about what they maintain is the new system’s failure. As well, complaints about snow removal were voiced by other residents at the most recent city council meeting.
Among the people we spoke to were Theophania Rodaros of Antonio St. in the Souvenir-Labelle district. A resident of the street for the past ten years, she complained that the new signage has proven itself to be unreliable, switching on sporadically, forcing cars to be moved, then shutting off long before any snow removal has actually taken place.
While The Laval News was interviewing her late Tuesday afternoon last week, one of the illuminated signs on Antonio St. was switched on, forbidding any parking from 7 am to 5 pm. It then switched off at the appointed hour, without any snow removal having taken place during that time period.
Cars moved, but still no snow removal
“Many times they will put the signs for the snow cleanup, residents had moved their cars, but the snow it was never removed, sometimes to a week later,” Rodaros wrote in a written statement she hoped to deliver to the mayor and council at the January 13 city council meeting.
(As it turned out, she missed the deadline a day earlier to register for the public question period.) “Sometimes the red light is on, sometimes not, neither side of the road,” she continued. “To me this is nonsense. I prefer the old system better.”
“I don’t understand how it works,” she said regarding the new warning system. “It is very confusing. Sometimes it goes on late at night, but our cars need to be removed by 7 am. For someone who is retired and is home all day, how are we supposed to know that the sign is on and he has to remove his car because of the snow removal?”
No warning, followed by car towing
Although the city created a snow removal app with a feature that sends users warnings when snow removal operations are scheduled to begin, Rodaros said it failed to inform her one day in early January. Instead, a neighbour told her that a tow truck was about to remove her car from a reserved handicapped parking space in front of Rodaros’s apartment building.
Things only got worse after that. On January 12, she came out onto the street only to see that an $88 parking violation ticket had been left on her car’s windshield after she allegedly failed to liberate the space for a scheduled snow removal operation.
By 5:20 pm when she arrived home that day, some of the electronic snow removal signs on Antonio St. were switched on – “but there was no snow to be cleaned,” Rodaros added.
‘Confusing,’ says a Chomedey resident
Theophania Rodaros is not the only Laval resident who finds the city’s new snow removal warning system has limitations and shortcomings.
During a break at last week’s council meeting, The Laval News spoke with Imane El Idrissi of de Chambly Ave. in Chomedey. (It’s worth noting that like Rodaros, El Idrissi was also unable to address the council on the snow removal issue, because she failed to register for question period before the deadline.)
“Very confusing and conducive to error,” she said, referring to the new e-signage system. “We no longer know when we can stay parked or when to move our cars and they’re switched on all the time.
“Since their installation last spring, in April 2025, every time it’s lit up, there’s no cleanup,” she continued. “For example today, it was flashing on one side of the street. And what happens? They clean up the other side where there are no lights flashing.”
‘All over Laval,’ says city councillor
Like Rodaros, El Idrissi was also served with parking violation tickets ($88 and $120) after allegedly not moving her car from in front of her home during scheduled snow removal operations.
“The system doesn’t work and the citizens are really fed up,” said Aglaia Revelakis, city councillor for Chomedey. Citing just one of many recent incidents, Revelakis noted that she received complaints on a recent Sunday morning from residents of Sinclair St. about being forced to move their cars, after which the snow removal crew didn’t turn up anyway.
“It’s all over Laval, not only in Chomedey,” she said. “The lights go on, but the snow [removers] don’t pass. It’s confusing the residents. And then, of course, after a while the citizens won’t pay any attention anymore to the lights.”
