City clears 2,100 km of roads after big weekend snowfall
New calcium chloride de-icing solution could not be used due to low temperatures
After Mother Nature dropped nearly a foot of snow over Edmonton during the last major snowfall, city officials say arterial roads are nearly clear.
“We removed about 47,000 cubic metres of snow, which is the equivalent of around 18 Olympic-sized swimming pools,” said Janet Tecklenborg, director of infrastructure operations with the City of Edmonton, giving an update Wednesday.
More than 200 graders have cleared 2,100 kilometres of arterial routes throughout the city before the seasonal parking ban ended Tuesday night.
“We’re definitely ahead of the last two years in terms of our snow removal and how much we’ve put into our snow storage areas,” Tecklenborg said.
Now city crews will turn their attention back to clearing residential roads down to five centimetres of snow pack. Residents can check when residential streets in their area are being cleared of snow on the city’s website.
Despite finger-pointing from frustrated drivers losing traction on icy streets, Tecklenborg said a new calcium-chloride de-icing solution being piloted on some arterial routes wasn’t used during the last snow event as it can’t be applied when temperatures drop below minus 20 C.
Tecklenborg said some concern from citizens about the de-icing solution could stem from the fact that when it is applied to bare roads it can make them appear wet, but “based on the traction testing, we haven’t seen a decrease in the road friction level.”
When temperatures are too cold to apply the calcium-chloride deicing solution, Tecklenborg said city crews are still applying salt and sand as needed.
Tecklenborg said it is too early to tell whether the new de-icing protocols are improving or harming road conditions, but said data is being collected and will be presented to city council in spring.
Meanwhile, it seems street parkers are still not getting the message when it comes to seasonal parking bans.
During the last seasonal parking ban from Saturday to Tuesday, bylaw officers wrote 1,488 tickets and towed 68 vehicles.
This is a slight increase from the last parking ban, where bylaw officers issued 1,318 tickets and towed 148 vehicles.
Amanda Kros, supervisor with the city’s parking enforcement services, said she hopes an increase in the seasonal parking ban fine to $100 from $50 at the beginning of January will be a stronger deterrent.
“We’re hoping that eventually, with the increase in the seasonal parking ban fine, that we will start to see the compliance that we are looking for,” said Kros.
Kros said it is important residents clear their cars from streets along designated bus routes during seasonal parking bans so graders can clear the snow safely and efficiently.