Branches be gone: Montreal says it's finished most of the ice storm cleanup

Could it be? The City of Montreal says it's finally finished removing branches from streets and sidewalks almost six weeks after April's ice storm.

Now, city workers have to focus on rehabilitating parks that have damaged grounds.

The Saint-Michel Environmental Complex is one of seven eco centres in the city that are handling the piles of branches and tree trunks, shredding tons of them into woodchips.

"Here, it's one of the biggest, but it's only a part of the iceberg," said city spokesperson Phillippe Sabourin.

As for the next mission, the city's parks, Sabourin said that the project will only be completed next month.

"The clearing operation for branches in parks will be completed in the second week of June," he confirmed, though Mount Royal and Maisonneuve parks will take longer because of the high number of trees on their territories.

In the West Island, officials are also dealing with a second emergency -- floods -- which is why Sabourin said the ice storm cleanup has been so slow. He also said the city lacks the specialized equipment needed to manage the mess.

At least the woodchips will come in handy.

"Part of the woodchips in Montreal will be used … to produce energy for major industries, and this is how we will use the biomass," Sabourin said.

New trees will be planted to replace all the ones that were destroyed but that process will only begin in several months.