Good morning everyone;
Just another quick update for you and some historical trivia to ponder;
The last time we had a snow storm this late in March was 2005 when we had 15 cm fall. Yesterdays storm ranged from 20 to 26 cm depending on where you were, which set a new record.
We are continuing our cleanup efforts as this snow will not disappear on its own anytime soon. We are making progress in our cleanup, however it does come with some added challenges, especially in our sidewalk plowing program.
As you all know, we did experience some mild temperatures in the days and weeks prior to yesterday which had nicely softened up the surface of the sod areas adjacent to the sidewalks. We had experienced some sod damage during the last storm and I’m sorry to report this storm is not offering any relief in this area. We had a number of our sidewalk units get stuck yesterday (seriously stuck) in the soft area adjacent to the sidewalks, due mainly to the shear weight of these units. So plowing the sidewalks is a bit challenging for staff to try not to cause any unnecessary sod damage. An even greater challenge will be the clearing of the bus stops where a concrete pad does not exist. We will do our best to try to clear these bus stop areas in such a way to minimize sod damage and added costs.
Now the update……
ROADS;
Roads crews continue working on the main arterials (Salt Routes) and collector roads, (Secondary Salt Routes) and have transitioned into the residential roads behind the contractor assisted plow out to apply abrasives to the roads. The city wide residential plowout continues and should be completed by noon today. Our follow-up on the residentials (abrasives application) should be complete by 11;00pm tonight.
SIDEWALKS, CITY OWNED STEPS AND BUS STOPS, including DOWNTOWN
Sidewalk crews have completed their work on the main runs and have transitioned into the residential routes. The plowing effort is not without it’s challenges as described above. The operation will continue late into the evening and will cease when we have exhausted all available staff, (legislative maximum hours worked). Plowing will resume Friday morning to completion.
Bus stop clearing and pedestrian crosswalk cleanup will continue simultaneously as sidewalk plowing progresses.
Downtown sidewalks and parking facility clearing and removal is progressing well. Some larger piles of snow creating sightline issues in the downtown will be removed later tonight and tomorrow night (if required).
City owned step program continues and progressing to completion.
FACILITIES;
Crews mobilized in this area again early this morning to ensure satisfactory completion of the required cleanup. Staff