Severe winter storm update: residential snow clearing starts

In the wake of a severe winter storm that covered Saskatoon, the City has immediately taken steps to clear snow from residential streets. 

“We’re hearing from all our residents, and we recognized from the moment we saw just how much snow we were dealing with, that residential roads would be a challenge,” says Terry Schmidt, General Manager of Transportation and Construction. “We need to fix the problem and get everyone moving around again.” 
 
Under normal winter snowfall circumstances, the City’s snow clearing service does not extend to residential neighbourhoods, but this is an unusually large amount of snow all at once for Saskatoon. 
 
“Last winter, the city had five snow events that roughly equated to the same snowfall we experienced this weekend,” Schmidt says. “This is an incredible challenge; we are doing everything we can to get Saskatoon back to a daily routine.” 

For this reason, the City is acting with a plan to restore mobility on all roads city-wide, including residential streets, because of the challenges people are facing, like getting to work and going about their daily lives.  

Over the weekend, Saskatoon experienced a severe winter storm with between 30 and 40 cm of snow and high winds which created large drifts across the City. Underneath the snow is a layer of ice from the freezing rain that also fell. 

What’s been done 

The focus since Monday has been to restore mobility along the priority streets.  All priority 1 streets have had drifting removed and many have now been graded curb-to-curb.  Nearly all Priority 2 streets and 85% of Priority 3 streets are passable. 

With the layer of ice under the snow, streets remain slippery.  It will take several more days to clear the priority streets curb-to-curb and fully complete sanding and de-icing.   
 
Last night, graders continued to make progress in Riversdale, Broadway, Erindale, Evergreen, Briarwood, Wildwood and Stonebridge.   

What to expect 

Today, city graders and contractor graders are working together on the east side of the City to finish making Priority 3 streets passable in Stonebridge, Rosewood, Wildwood, College Park, Brighton, Willowgrove, Forest Grove and Sutherland. 

Graders will also be returning to priority streets to complete curb-to-curb clearing.  We will continue to work around-the-clock on priority streets with a full contingent of roadways staff and contractors until cleanup is complete.  

Schmidt says aside from cleaning up from the blizzard, the other focus for today is responding to the snow we are already receiving. 

Residential streets 

Schmidt stresses attention is turning to residential snow clearing immediately. The work was scheduled to start this morning with a crew being mobilized to the Kensington neighbourhood.   

“Crews are making very good progress on clearing priority roads,” he says. “As those crews become available after completing this work, further resources will be assigned to restoring mobility on residential streets.  

It’s anticipated additional crews will be able to start work on other neighborhoods on Thursday, November 12.  

“The plan is to put as many resources as possible in as many neighbourhoods as possible all at the same time across the City.  This work will be done night and day, in all neighbourhoods. 
 
“We understand night work may cause some noise and inconvenience but working through the night will greatly reduce the schedule to complete the work,” Schmidt says. 
 
Normally, and for the past few days, the City has encouraged residents to contact us with specific concerns, but the approach is shifting and with this plan we are addressing all areas in our city. 

However, Schmidt points out that while attending to residential streets -- and with the snow we are receiving today and possible future snow -- we may need to go back to prioritizing higher traffic streets for a time. 

Please remember road conditions are still considered dangerous due to snow accumulation, ocassional drifting, and the layer of ice underneath the snow.  

As another reminder, we ask citizens not to push snow out onto the street when clearing snow from sidewalks and driveways -- this can clog up streets with snow and create further mobility issues. 

Once again, the City extends its thanks to everyone helping neighbours, remaining patient during the city-wide snow clean-up, and for staying safe around the snow removal equipment on our streets. 

More information on our process for snow clearing can be found at saskatoon.ca/snow 

School Zone Snow Removal  

Crews are planning to remove piles of snow left by graders (windrows) from all school zones next week. This will provide space for vehicles parking or dropping off and picking up children.   

City Hall  

Where possible, residents are asked to use available online services at saskatoon.ca. For property taxes, assessment, and utility related matters, they can contact the City by e-mail at revenue@saskatoon.ca or phone at 306-975-2400.