City-wide snow clean-up continues

City snow crews are making great progress in the city-wide clean-up following the severe winter storm. Clearing of driving lanes on residential streets will be complete later today, which is three and a half days ahead of the projected schedule.

“There’s no question that we have more work to do,” says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation & Construction. “But I’m proud of the way our crews and contractors are putting everything they have, around the clock, into this operation.”

With the first pass of driving lanes in residential areas completed, crews will now focus their attention on the following:

• Continuing to clean and clear priority streets as needed;
• Residential streets that need more attention to improve drivability;
• Addressing problem areas on residential streets (e.g. snow piles near driveways or in front of fire hydrants);
• Removal of snow in Business Improvement Districts;
• Industrial areas.

Where piles of snow present a clear issue, they will be removed. This includes large piles that restrict sight lines on priority roads and piles of especially heavy, packed snow around driveway entrances and parked vehicles. With the massive accumulation of snow, there will still be piles of snow on residential streets reducing on-street parking at times. Crews will return in the coming weeks for snow removal, once the other priorities have been addressed.

“This is the first time we’ve undertaken a snow operation of this magnitude and we’re truly grateful for the patience and cooperation of Saskatoon residents,” says Schmidt. “We’re seeing people shovelling out their neighbour’s vehicle or driveway entrance; it truly is a community effort.”

A reminder that Saskatoon Transit has resumed normal operations and is available to get residents where they need to go.