Canada/Alberta's major cities ready to brave the snow

Snowplows in Alberta's major cities are ready for the first flurries of snow, the municipalities of Edmonton and Calgary assured us this week.

Our equipment is being prepared, tested and calibrated as we speak," said Chris Hewitt, Calgary's municipal mobility maintenance manager, on Wednesday.

In Edmonton, the city says it has invested $66 million to clear 12,000 kilometers of roads and more than 500 kilometers of pedestrian and bicycle paths this year.

Among other things, the municipality decided to revise its system for prioritizing clearing services, dividing them into four levels of priority.

Priority 1 roads, such as highways, major arteries, steep streets and downtown streets, will be cleared within 24 hours," explains Mark Beare, municipal director of infrastructure operations.

This year, we've fine-tuned some winter priority access points [to roads] so that the most popular and in-demand access points are also cleared," he says.

As for clearing sidewalks, ramps, stairs and paths leading to bus shelters, all of which are the second priority, citizens can expect a three-day delay.

Residential neighborhoods are at the bottom of the list, with a 10-day clean-up time after a major snowfall.

Edmonton also offers new real-time maps of road conditions for cars and pedestrians, available on its website.

Mark Beare adds that if the weather turns out to be mild this winter, the City will assign other tasks to its snow removal crews, such as street maintenance and pothole repairs.

This year, we've been proactive in structuring our team so that everyone has a primary responsibility for snow and ice removal and a secondary activity of redeployment," he explains.

A priority system in Calgary too

For its part, Calgary has indicated that the budget allocated in 2024 for street snow and ice clearing is55 million, a large part of which was already spent at the beginning of the year.

However, according to Chris Hewitt, the remaining $17 million will be more than sufficient to ensure snow removal by the end of the year.

The metropolis east of the Rockies has also established a priority snow-clearing system, whereby Priority 1 roads will be cleared within 18 hours. These roads include the Crowchild Trail and the Macleod Trail, which carry almost 20,000 cars a day.

Some sidewalks, crosswalks and wheelchair ramps will also be cleared on a priority basis. However, the city is only responsible for 10% of municipal sidewalks. Clearing the remaining 90% is the responsibility of property owners.

The city also plans to extend its program of small snowplows on secondary roads.

These small trucks will be used while the larger equipment is deployed on the more important roads," explains Chris Hewitt.

According to Environment Canada forecasts dated October 17, the two metropolises can expect snowfall probabilities of 30 to 40% for October 21.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/