Neighbourhood snow removal gets underway
The City will start removing snow from residential streets beginning tomorrow (Dec. 2), beginning in the Haultain, Queen Elizabeth, and Lawson Heights neighbourhoods. This neighbourhood clean-up is in response to the severe snow accumulation in November that left many residential streets impassable.
“Removing the large piles of snow from residential streets is going to improve our ability to safely navigate our neighbourhoods again,” says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation & Construction. “We’ll all be happy to say good-bye those large piles of snow interfering in our sight lines and the availability of on-street parking in front of our homes. We also want to get as many of those obstructive piles of snow off sidewalks as we can—though this may take more time.”
Given the number of streets to cover across 66 city-wide residential neighbourhoods, the City is not attempting to achieve the same bare pavement conditions that we see on higher traffic priority streets. The end result in neighbourhoods will resemble a completed school zone with some non-hazardous snow piles remaining.
Since the snow accumulation is presenting safety and mobility challenges in all neighbourhoods, the order in which crews visit neighbourhoods is being determined at random and then balanced by ward to ensure progress is taking place equally across the city. A preliminary schedule will be posted to saskatoon.ca/snow in the coming days. As the first few neighbourhoods are completed, the City will be able to better estimate a schedule for the remaining neighbourhoods – please check the webpage for updates.
Residents will know when crews are coming to their neighbourhood when they see ‘No Parking’ signs go up along their street. The goal is to have these installed about 24 hours before the start of work. Similar to street sweeping, residents will need to move their vehicle off the street in advance of snow operations or their vehicle will be towed. This is to give equipment room to operate as well as to ensure the best result.
Other ways residents can help:
- Steer clear of crews and equipment while work is underway.
- Keep kids off snow piles and from building tunnels through snow piles; the piles can collapse, and the weight of that snow could be very dangerous.
- Remove any rubber driveway/curb ramps before removal on your street.
This neighbourhood clean-up is in response to the severe snow accumulation in November that left many residential streets impassable for several days. Neighbourhood snow management is not part of our city's standard operations. Existing levels of service for winter maintenance will apply to future snow events. In neighbourhoods, this means City snow crews are sent to local roads when ice rutting impedes mobility (reaches 6” in depth).