EverythingGP file photo

By Shane Clausing

snow removal

City officials weigh in on snow removal

Jan 25, 2022 | 1:37 PM

City officials say the recent stretch of extreme weather is what has caused issues on the roads over the last several weeks.

Grande Prairie has seen an interesting weather pattern so far in 2022. The Swan City has seen freezing rain, snowstorms, high winds, above normal and below normal temperatures over the last three weeks.

Mayor Jackie Clayton discussed the current state of the snow removal process following Monday’s council meeting.

“As we all know, we had a significant amount of snowfall in a short period of time, and the weather turned extremely cold, and then another snowfall,” said Clayton.

“Based on our service level under (the) snow removal and ice policy, priority one roads are plowed within 24 hours at the end of the snow event. Then there’s priority two (roads) within five working days, priority three (roads) within five working days, and (then) there’s residential within 10 working days of a snow event that accumulates more than 10 centimetres.”

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

“So, there are many factors in our snow policy. Transportation continues to plow roads as needed, then there’s drifting snow to consider. We monitor for ice and apply salt and sand as needed. As you probably know, salt doesn’t work at anything colder than minus 13,” Clayton added.

Priority one roads are the busiest roads in the city, priority two roads are the main roads you would go through a neighbourhood on and priority three roads are industrial and commercial areas.

Councillor Dylan Bressey tells EverythingGP while the recent stretch of storms has led to problems on the roads, crews are still out plowing and trying to keep up with mother nature.

“I think the challenge is that throughout this time, our equipment is going 24/7. So, we are using the equipment the best we can.”

Bressey says one of the issues the city is facing is if they need more equipment for future winters, or if what they have now is currently good and this is just an abnormal winter.

“The question that council needs to answer when we do a review of snow removal in the spring is ‘do we want to have enough equipment for a typical year or have enough equipment for (a snow event) once every four or five years?’”

“It’s nice to have once every four or five years once you need extra equipment, but it’s really expensive in those other years where our existing equipment is adequate.”

Clayton mentioned that everywhere in the city is seeing issues with the snow because of the unusual weather currently hitting the Swan City.

“The reality is, the snow removal equipment plows the road, and sometimes it covers a storm drain with snow and when the storm drain is covered in snow and then it freezes. And then you have a 30 degree weather change. There’s going to be significant melting and it’s not a traditional path for the melting snow and ice to get to the storm drains. It creates issues and this is not a fault of any bad engineering, any bad operational of snow or ice removal. It’s simply a result of dramatic weather changes.

“And yes, I understand that many neighborhoods have seen large ponding in their neighborhoods, and you know, many businesses have flooding and I can tell you that it is a priority and our crews and our administration are very conscious of what’s happening in the city. They’re on top of it on a 24/7.”

As mentioned, council will discuss their snow removal plan at a meeting later this year. Residents wanting to make their voices heard on the issues are encouraged to contact their local councillors or by visiting the City of Grande Prairie’s website.