City endorses quick, ambitious targets for snow and ice removal

Application of calcium chloride before a storm, immediate plowing to save time

If all goes well, Edmonton residents will see a cleaner and safer city this winter with freeways plowed to bare pavement in a quarter of the current time.

Rather than sanding major roads during a storm, city crews will spray a calcium chloride solution beforehand to prevent ice from bonding to the pavement.

When the snow hits, they’ll plow immediately and aim for bare, dry roads within 12 hours after the snowfall ends.

That compares to 48 hours with the sanding techniques Edmonton uses now.

But it’s a tricky new science, deputy city manager Doug Jones said after the plan was endorsed by council’s community services committee Thursday.

If city staff don’t have the right amount of calcium chloride and equipment on the road, snow could dilute the product until it freezes and creates black ice.

Then police would have to shut the road while crews get it back up to standard.

“We want to take a very measured approach so we get a positive result,” said Jones.

He added city staff will be monitoring the weather closely and training workers on how to use the new techniques.

“Safety is going to be the No. 1 concern. If you go too fast, you may make a mistake.”

Jones believes the new approach will be more effective, allowing the department to reallocate staff to clearing bus stops, bike paths as well as residential roads.

Staff are designing new pilot projects for this winter and will survey residents afterward to see what they think.

“I’m really excited about the focus on people who need to walk ... That’s something that’s been missing in this policy,” said Coun. Andrew Knack, after officials also pitched new targets for bus stops next to city land and priority walkways and cycling routes. These will all be scraped to bare pavement within 24 hours of a storm.

On residential streets, city officials aim to scrape to bare pavement, rather than leaving a fivecentimetre snow pack as they do now.

Coun. Ben Henderson questioned how that’s possible, when the challenge has always been finding a place to store the snow.

Jones said his staff would like to test the use of calcium chloride there, too.

It may result in snow melting as it falls, then evaporating rather than freezing, he said.

They’ll also look at short-term parking bans, and storing snow on boulevards where possible.

Coun. Scott McKeen asked about impacts to the river and Jones admitted high levels of this chemical would impact the fish.

But no solution is perfect, Jones added, stressing the first priority should be human safety.

That said, this solution should have less environmental impact than traditional salt because crews will use less to get similar results.

Calcium chloride works to -29 C. McKeen asked officials to include run-off monitoring data from drainage sensors when they report back on this winter’s results.

“I know I will hear about this from some constituents in Ward 6 raising the alarm,” he said.

I’m really excited about the focus on people who need to walk ... That’s something that’s been missing in this policy.