The Blue Gryb Rotating Icebreaker. Image: City of Saint John, Facebook.
The sidewalks of uptown Saint John should be a little less icy this winter, thanks to a new piece of equipment purchased by the city – and it’s welcomed news to the area’s businesses after a particularly icy winter last year.
At the end of last winter, the city purchased a piece of equipment called the Blue Gryb Rotating Icebreaker, a unit that attaches to and rotates spikes in front of a sidewalk plow to crush ice. Once broken up into chunks, the ice can be easily removed from high pedestrian areas.
Mike Hugenholtz, the commissioner of transportation and environment services for the city of Saint John, said the unit will be ready to go for this winter if things get icy.
“Last year was a particularly challenging year for us in terms of icing both on the streets and on city sidewalks,” he said. “We have always been keeping our eye out for solutions and this came to our attention and we decided to purchase one unit as kind of a pilot to see if it would be effective in addressing our challenges.”
Since it’s only one unit, Hugenholtz said the icebreaker will focus on high pedestrian areas, particularly uptown.
“Where there is only one unit, we need to be strategic in where we deploy this thing. If we do have conditions of icing on the city sidewalks this year, we’ll look to get out and trial some areas,” he said.
“It makes sense to look at areas that receive a lot of pedestrian traffic. Uptown’s business district, in particular, would jump to mind. But it wouldn’t necessarily be allocated to just there. If we do have local areas of concern outside of the uptown area, we can certainly deploy this unit there as well.”
For uptown businesses, news of a machine to combat ice build-up is welcomed. Nancy Tissington, executive director of Uptown Saint John, the organization representing businesses in the area, said last winter was particularly challenging.
“I think [businesses] were trying to stay ahead of it themselves. I did see a lot of groups get together and they would use the [ice chopper shovels],” she said. “They were literally out there chipping away because even after the machinery comes through, that’s it. There’s no more care after that, so we’ve had to pitch in and do some stuff.”
Pamela Wheaton, the owner of Heartbreak Boutique on Germain Street, says she’s excited about the city having the new way to break the ice. She was one of the many shop owners who did their best to clear pathways to their shops last winter, but with the flash freezing, it was hard for the city and businesses alike to stay on top of.
“I would go out and chip the ice away from the front part of my store, but I could only do my little section. So my section would be clear, but that doesn’t fix the problem, because the rest of it is still [icy],” said Wheaton.
“Other stores did it too, but it’s a lot of work. Not everybody can physically go out there and beat the ice off of the sidewalk.”
If the Blue Gryb proves useful, Hugenholtz says they will look into getting more of them. Though the city is currently facing some financial challenges, he says these types of units could help save the city money in the long-run.
“A lot of times though when we get thick ice build-up on the sidewalks, it requires us to go back and go back and go back again, applying new abrasive materials or applying new salt,” he said. “So if this is effective, there may be some cost-savings associated with that as well.”
Tissington said talks are currently happening to have Uptown Saint John help fund another ice breaker. Also this winter, Uptown Saint John is piloting a new program that will give business access to free salt and sand.
“We’re providing some sand and salt boxes in and around town. We’re actually going to place them in a strategic location so that that the sand and salt machines can get by. So we actually met and did a walkabout with the city of Saint John and we’re going to put eight in as a pilot this year,” said Tissington.
“We’re going to keep them filled with sand and salt and monitor them. Then we’re going to hand out scoops for businesses to have them nearby. So if they see some problem areas, they can go out and the sand and salt is provided for them.”
