This week’s public confession: I’m a moving liability if I try to drive in a snowstorm. More so than most people on the road. Reason No. 1 is simple: I drive a small car. My 2007 Pontiac G5 is dwarfed by pickup trucks and large SUVs at the best of times. When the snowstorms hit (which they have done five times since late November), I know that I need to stay off the road and wait for the worst of the snow to pass. I wish some people in those pickup trucks and SUVs would do the same. Instead, they insist on barrelling down Souris Avenue at 60 kilometres per hour. Reason No. 2 is a little more complex –my eyesight condition that makes it even more difficult for me to navigate my small car around the city when the conditions take a turn for the worse. Reduced visibility for normal motorists becomes near-zero visibility for me; near-zero visibility for most is zero visibility for me. Needless to say, the past four months have not been kind. The last storm wasn’t the most potent in terms of snowfall, but those heavy winds resulted in a two-day blizzard that made the second day of the storm even worse than the first. I know I say this most winters, but spring can’t come soon enough. And I know that I’m not the only one uttering that sentiment. The city’s public works division has been on the front lines after each snow storm. They have been widely praised for their response to the storms, and for good reason. They have done a great job of keeping the city’s arterial roads unplugged during the storms, and they’ve been out removing the snow in a prompt manner once the snow is finished. Yes, the snow removal expenses exceeded the budgeted amount last year, and they’re likely close to budget already for this year. But if you ask local residents if they would rather see expensive but exceptional snow removal, or a strict adherence to the snow removal budget, they’ll tell you they would rather have great snow removal and cost-saving measures in other departments. The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure employees will tell you they’ve had enough of snowstorms and blizzards. And they don’t want to issue any more Travel not Recommended advisories, or close any roads. It takes a lot to shut down a highway in Saskatchewan. In the case of the most recent storm in the southeast, there were lots of highways closed throughout the region, as the weather conditions became too dangerous for even the best winter drivers. Many motorists were stranded on the highways because of the road conditions. Those who were passing through spent much more time in the southeast than they would have liked. When Highway 39 between Estevan and Midale is closed, you know the conditions are bad. SaskPower crews will have to contend with power failures no matter the time of the year, but the conditions last week forced them to wait before they could restore power. Police, fire crews, EMS and anyone else affected by blizzards will be happy to see spring arriving. Some will scoff and say “It’s all part of living in Saskatchewan,” but we did have a record-setting amount of snow for December, and it’s rare to have five powerful storms roll through here in less than four months. So please, spring, hurry up and arrive. And please bring gradual temperature increases and dry conditions, so that the snow melts slowly, and we don’t have to worry about localized or wide-spread flooding. A repeat of the spring of 2011 is the last thing we need.
