Snow and Ice Clearing: 2022-2023
This winter, our city is focused on rolling out improvements to our snow and ice strategies to promote safe mobility regardless of mode of transportation. Residents this upcoming winter will now be able to sign up for a new parking ban notification tool that now includes text notifications and advanced notification of clearing in specific areas. https://my.edmonton.ca/sign-up?destination=
“When it snows, we are out working. Edmontonians will see an improved experience in road and pathway clearing when the snow starts to fall in 2022,” said Valerie Dacyk, General Supervisor, Infrastructure Field Operations. “More crews will be seen clearing roads, pathways and City walkways. Edmonton is a winter city and we know that every day, people travel across our city in a variety of ways.”
2022/23 Improvements
Residents can expect to see the following improvements in snow and ice operations, this year:
Improved experience - Earlier this year, City Council provided additional funding for Snow and Ice Control that will help enable operations to be more effective in responding to winter weather conditions, which will provide more consistency in service.
More equipment on the road and larger areas covered more quickly.
Additional pick up of collected snow around school zones.
More frequent residential maintenance which includes the grooming of snowpack.
The addition of three supplier-filled large sandbox sites for public access.
This season, the City will not be doing bare pavement plowing in residential areas, which will reduce windrows and catch basin issues in spring.
As part of the in-season enhancements for this year, residents can expect to see ticketing and towing as a tool to contribute to the speed, efficiency and quality of snow and ice clearing throughout the city. It should be noted that the current bylaw ticket is $100, however, amendments to the traffic bylaw are on the agenda to be discussed at an upcoming Council meeting, which may result in an increase of this fine up to $250.
I want to stress the point around towing this year. We haven’t been doing that in previous years and this year, towing will be a critical part of the enforcement. When people leave their cars on the street, it means City staff are not able to do as good of a job as we all want and it takes them much longer. While most Edmontonians have done their part during a residential parking ban, unfortunately, not everyone has and this year will have significant enforcement so please make sure you sign up for the parking ban notifications so you aren’t surprised when it happens.
Priority Clearing and Parking Ban
When it snows, there’s a priority clearing system designed to keep Edmontonians safe and traffic flowing smoothly. Roadways and Active Pathways have their own teams and specialized equipment to complete clearing. That way, the service that they deliver does not compete with each other.
The City has the option to call a two-phased parking ban, allowing for improved service when conditions require it. The citywide parking ban consists of the following:
Phase 1 - Major Roads: Crews clear arterial and collector roads, bus routes and business improvement areas. You may continue to park on your residential street.
Phase 2 - Residential and Industrial Roads: Crews clear residential and industrial roads. You may park in your driveway, in a parking space on a neighbour's property with their permission, or on any road cleared during Phase 1 where parking is allowed normally.
Other resources that will be of interest to residents are sandboxes and city maps. Sandboxes will be available at over 150 community leagues throughout the city. City maps regarding snow clearing include the Snow and Ice Clearing Route Status Maps and the Active Pathways Snow and Ice Clearing Map.
If there are any issues that you encounter regarding snow and ice clearing, 311 remains the best place to have specific locations and issues addressed.
Supplemental Reading
If you are interested, I wrote a number of blog posts last year that cover why additional service is needed as well as some of the considerations about what is being added and what isn’t being added. You can read through that blog series using the links below.
