The City of Moose Jaw is continuing to clean up the mess that mother nature left in the city on Sunday, as 25 to 40 cm of snow fell causing major headaches for motorists on streets around the community.
Now two days after the storm hit the city, Jim Puffalt says that crews have wrapped up priority one streets and have moved their attention to priority two streets.
“Our crews have been working really hard since Sunday since the snow started. We will get caught up as quickly as we can,” says Puffalt. “The weather is looking to turn warmer later this week and we will keep evaluating, but there are some roads that need to be done. There will be some troubled areas that we will need to address for sure.”
Temperatures are expected to be above zero later this week, with a high of 12 expected on Sunday to allow for most of the snow to be gone by next week.
The snowstorm caused the city to cancel the waste collection on Monday in Zones 1, 2, and 9, which has now been rescheduled to later dates. In addition, public transit had to be cancelled on Monday due to unfavourable road conditions on city streets. As of 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, para-transit is fully operational, but regular city buses are shut down for the time being. The city will provide an update once it becomes available.
When it comes to the city’s snow-clearing procedures, they rely on a priority mapping system. This system is in place to point out which roads are to be plowed first due to importance such as arterial roads and emergency services facilities.
“The city is built on residential, collector, arterial, and highways. Our work is to get the highways done first and then to the arterials, collectors and then finally residential.”
Puffalt notes that the city doesn’t have the resources to clear the whole city at once.
“We work that way to give people opportunities to get to a major street and once they get to a major street, they’ll be able to get where they need to go. The plan is built upon that.”
A couple of years ago the city changed their snow removal schedule to allow for crews to work overnight to allow for a faster removal process.
Below is a full breakdown of the city’s priority mapping system:
Priority 1: Arterial roads and emergency services facilities. Roads will be plowed and have snow and ice control operations 24 hours after the end of a storm event. Windrows will not extend beyond ½ a metre onto any sidewalk. One parking stall will be maintained in front of private residences.
Priority 2: Bus Routes - Roads will be plowed and have snow and ice control operations 48 hours after the end of a storm event. Windrows will not extend beyond ½ a metre onto any sidewalk. One parking stall will be maintained in front of private residences.
Priority 3: Collector roads and areas with potential drainage issues - Roads will be plowed and have snow and ice control operations 72 hours after the end of a storm event. Windrows will not extend beyond ½ a metre onto any sidewalk. One parking stall will be maintained in front of private residences.
Priority 4: Local collectors - Roads will be plowed and have snow and ice control operations 96 hours after the end of a storm event. Windrows will not extend beyond ½ a metre onto any sidewalk. One parking stall will be maintained in front of private residences.
More information on the snow clearing priority mapping system can be found on the city's website.
Photo credit: City of Moose Jaw
Tue, May 7, 1:00 AM
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