The City of Estevan has announced there won’t be any changes to its snow removal policy for the upcoming winter.
The policy was posted on the city’s website earlier this month.
Norm Mack, the manager of the public works’ roads and drainage division, said the plan has been tested on numerous occasions in recent years, and it has worked.
It means there won’t be any changes to the roads that are designated as Priority 1, 2 and 3.
“We kept with the status quo simply because it seems to work,” said Mack.
He cited the purchase of a second snow blower a few years ago as a big reason for the improvements in snow removal. It allows the city to run two snow blowers simultaneously, and complete work in a much quicker fashion.
“A major snow event like we’ve had in the last couple years, we’ve taken the snow all off, and had the streets 100 per cent clean in Estevan in five or six days or so,” said Mack.
When a large snowstorm hits, Mack said the goal is to make all roads accessible as quickly as possible, regardless of the priority, so that vehicles don’t become stuck.
“Then we’ll move onto Priority 1 once the storm subsides. We’ll be tackling that in the early morning hours.
“We’ve gotten into the habit, in the last few years since I started, to right after the storm, be out there at 2 or 3 a.m. and get ahead of the game before traffic starts to flow at 8 a.m., and it seems that we can get a lot of our No. 1 arteries open,” said Mack.
The city has spent $263,400 on snow removal so far this year; much of that expense came during a winter storm that struck in early March. A blizzard later that month also resulted in some snow clearing expenses.
There was a little bit of money spent on snow removal in early October after Estevan received a few centimetres of snow.
“We have to keep our equipment in top-notch shape and have it so it works when you need it. We keep it maintained and replace it when it needs to be replaced. But the moment you let the equipment go, and put more hours on the equipment than you should have, and haven’t dealt with it, then you get into trouble.”
The equipment is ready to go, and the city has been updating equipment on an annual basis so it’s ready and not broken down. A new tandem truck and a new loader been purchased for this year.
The policy also dictates what to do in the event of major and minor snow events. In the case of a major snow event, crews will push snow to the sides of Priority 1 roads whenever possible. The snow will then be blown and hauled.
Crews and contractors will work 12-hour shifts starting early in the morning to clear Priority 1 and 2 roads. Equipment will be hired and people will work overtime.
For priority 3 roads, the snow will be windrowed to the middle, loaded and hauled.
Crews will work in eight to 12-hour shifts after Priority 1 and 2 roads are completed.
For a minor snow event, crews will sand when required and troublesome areas will be cleared on Priority 1 and 2 roads. Priority 3 roads will be cleaned and traffic will pack the snow.
The city will clear pathways and sidewalks in some high-traffic areas following major snow events, but residents are responsible for clearing sidewalks in front of their homes.
“We treat our sidewalks … and pathway system like King Street, Souris Avenue North and our main sidewalks … like Priority 1. We think it’s very important to have our power sweepers out on the skid-steers early in the morning to have our sidewalks and pathway system open, because there are a lot of people who walk to work.”
Keeping the sidewalks cleared will also help prevent them from icing up.
The policy still has to be approved by Estevan city council.
