January 12, 2022
City crews continue to be out in full force this week as they take on the deep snowpack on city roads. While this includes clearing residential roads and resuming the residential parking ban this past Monday, crews still continue to move across our city, maintaining all roadways and responding to priority or emergency situations where needed.
“With the extreme weather that we saw over the last few weeks, we called in all available staff and contractors to have our equipment out spreading the appropriate materials to ensure Edmontonians could safely travel across the city,” said Andrew Grant, General Supervisor of Infrastructure Field Operations, Parks and Roads Services. “This week, we have seen a return to more seasonal temperatures—even some melt—and we’re able to return to our regular operations.”
The Phase 2 residential parking ban resumed on Monday and the City expects it to continue for approximately four weeks. As of today, crews have completed 43 per cent of residential areas.
“Our crews are going through all of our residential areas again, including those that have already been bladed,” said Grant. “We have seen additional snow since we paused residential clearing due to the extreme cold, so we will continue to go through all of the neighbourhoods until they are complete."
The City asks residents to do their part by moving their vehicles off residential streets, when it's their neighbourhood's turn for street clearing. Vehicles that aren't moved at the time of clearing will be subject to ticketing.
Crews are in residential neighborhoods, clearing snow down to as close to pavement as possible, as per the Council-directed pilot for this year. Once crews have completed clearing a road in a residential neighbourhood, specialized equipment removes windrows that are blocking driveways and crosswalks. This equipment does follow behind our graders but not immediately—it can take up to several hours. While we do not remove windrows from curbsides in residential areas, we do our best to help ensure safety and mobility for Edmontonians. Any snow piles that are left in cul-de-sac areas after clearing will be picked up by crews within two weeks.
Over the last few years, Edmonton has not seen large amounts of snow as has been received this year. Residents can expect the size of windrows to be much larger this year, especially in comparison to last year, as a result of this accumulation. Understanding that there is a lot of snow out there, the City continues to maintain roadways and keep our city moving.
If windrows are causing a safety concern, we ask that residents call 311 to report it to the City or use the 311 app on mobile or desktop.
