Mediaboss Marketing

November 1, 2023 1:37 PM

This winter, The City of Red Deer is piloting changes to the snow and ice control program that emphasizes restoring mobility sooner and providing safe, accessible and well-maintained transportation infrastructure for all.

To improve mobility and responsiveness, residential streets will now be included in The Citys 24-hour snow and ice control operations. Previously, residential plowing was completed weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

We have heard from the community that they want residential streets completed sooner, said Greg Sikora, Manager of Parks and Public Works. By expanding our operations to 24/7, we will be able to clear Green and Grey Routes within seven days individually, which is an improvement from the previous average of 24 plus days to complete.

Once residential plowing is triggered, short-term, 24-hour per day parking restrictions will be implemented along residential routes. These restrictions will be enforced through ticketing and towing on both Green and Grey routes. Red Deerians will be notified of parking restrictions in a number of ways: Crews will place No Parking signs on every impacted street a minimum of 12 hours in advance of plowing, Residents can search their address via the mapping tool on The Citys website at reddeer.ca/snow, Residents will be alerted through Notify Red Deer, and Updates will be shared on The Citys social media channels.

Other improvements include increased service levels to the current trail clearing program, including an additional 25 km of the Waskasoo asphalt trail network, 10 new locations of shale trail and staircase clearing, and 68 more kilometres of neighbourhood asphalt trail clearing.

These networks will be cleared within three to six days, improving pedestrian and cyclist experience. Similarly, transit stops will also be cleared more quickly.

Changes to the overall program will focus on increasing the presence and effectiveness of pre-treating, plowing and sanding equipment on major arterials, hills and bridges before, during and after snowfall.

To address icy driving conditions and provide greater traction control, we will be more aggressively sanding and salting our major roadways and high-risk spots, said Sikora.

In June 2023, Council adopted the revised Integrated and Accessible Transportation Policy (IAATP), which focuses on providing the community with mobility services based on four guiding principles: safe, accessible, well-maintained and accountable.

The City is also launching a public consultation process on residential snow clearing operations. Residents are invited to provide input on the residential program, and how we can better meet the needs of the community throughout the winter. At the end of the program, all responses will be analyzed and summarized in a report. City Council will then review the findings to inform future snow clearing policies and operations. Visit engage.reddeer.ca to learn more.

For more information about the new snow and ice program, visit http://www.reddeer.ca/snow.

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News Room: City of Red Deer announces pilot snow and ice control ... - The City of Red Deer