How does city snow clearing stack up
After 11 centimetres of snow fell a week ago some streets remained unplowed
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, November 20, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Nearly a week after a snowstorm some city streets and sidewalks have not been fully cleared.
Corey Zytaruk shovels a driveway on Calder Crescent on Thursday afternoon. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Chris Greencorn, the city's director of public works and engineering, said the snowfall that began Nov. 11 and dumped 11.6 cm over three days was a "significant snowfall event."
Staff responded well to the snow, wrote Greencorn, in an e-mail, emphasizing it fell on the Remembrance Day holiday.
"This alone left a large number of people at home and cars on the street which impacted snow plowing efforts. The city received several compliments and acknowledgments of a job well done during this event. While 12 cm may not seem like a lot of snow generally speaking, it can be challenging with the staff and equipment resources at our disposal."
Yellowknife, which gets about 152 cm of snow annually, budgeted to spend $971,000 this year on plowing and removal of snow, which includes equipment, labour and material costs. That's 1.2 per cent of the city's $80.9 million budget for the year.
The city has two on-call staff in the winter for snow clearing during storms. Staff are mobilized "as soon as it becomes evident that the amount is going to accumulate," Greencorn wrote.
For last week's snowfall, there were four to five staff working, depending on the time, with four pieces of equipment in use.
In various parts of the city this week, larger piles of snow could still be found along the sides of roads or where vehicles had been left parked on-street.
Asked how many hours after a snow storm streets are expected to be clear, Greencorn said it depends on the severity of the storm.
"We have limited resources, human and equipment, so we do as much as possible," he wrote.
Yellowknifer sought to compare other cities with similar annual snowfall amounts to see how spending and clean-up policies stack up.
The city is responsible for clearing 11.7 km of the 62.6 km of sidewalks, according to its website. Downtown homeowners and businesses are responsible for sidewalks adjacent to their property.
High Level, Alta.
The northern Alberta town of High Level, population 3,600, gets an average of 154.2 cm of snow per year.
It has budgeted to spend $450,000 on snow clearing this year, about 2.6 per cent of the town budget, according to Keith Straub. Town policy states any snow or ice cleanup must remain within the budget.
The town is responsible for clearing sidewalks along municipal and residential land within 72 hours of the end of snowfall. Residents pay a $5 fee for the town to do the work. Commercial properties are responsible for sidewalks around their lots.
Snow is allowed to collect on roads to a compacted depth of five centimetres before clean-up activity begins on main routes.
Grande Prairie, Alta.
The northwestern Alberta city of Grande Prairie receives an average of 167.5 cm of snow.
The budget doesn't explicitly state how much it spends on snow clearing. According to a 2014 news release about changes to its snow clean-up policies, its transportation division had a budget of $4 million, and $850,000 for equipment. Together, that represents 3.2 per cent of its $151.8 million in budgeted spending for 2015. It also keeps a reserve of $3 million for extraordinary winter seasons.
Residential street cleaning starts 24 hours after "a major snow event" or when 10 cm of snow has accumulated. Its regular plowing is based on its garbage collection schedule in neighbourhoods and uses parking bans to get vehicles off streets.
Property owners or occupants are required to clear adjoining sidewalks within 24 hours.
Prince Albert, Sask.
The central Saskatchewan city of Prince Albert gets an average of 113.9 cm of snow.
It budgeted to spend $840,540 this year on "snow downtown" and "snow management," which is 1.4 per cent of total spending planned for 2015.
The 35,000-person community requires property owners to clear their sidewalks within 48 hours of snowfall.
The city imposes parking bans, meaning vehicles aren't allowed to park on the street, when there is more than 10 cm of snowfall. Vehicles that aren't moved are subject to fines or towing.
