You may notice some improvements to how The City of Calgary handles our priority routes this winter. Following the Council’s recent mandate to improve snow clearing services, we have designed our winter operations program with the aim of improving response times on our highest priority roads to 36 hours.
“These improved service levels mean we will complete our snow operations on priority routes faster to improve safety and mobility for Calgarians,” said Chris Hewitt, Manager of Mobility Maintenance. “Our goal is to keep those major routes moving safely during and after snowfall.”
These changes to the City’s priority snow plan will complete major roads, and major community and transit routes (also known as Priority One and Two routes) in 36 hours, compared to the previous 48 hours of past years. While our routes are still prioritized based on traffic volumes, the faster snow clearing response time allows for a quicker resumption of normal operations on many of our busiest streets and transit routes.
“We work to maintain good driving conditions on our main routes and want to provide a safe commute for all Calgarians,” says Hewitt. “We want to remind citizens that winter weather can occur at any time. Our crews are working 24/7 throughout the winter months to ensure we can respond to the snow and ice.”
The Council has also invested in providing permanent funding for the City’s pedestrian clearing operations, including maintaining 24-hour response time on prioritized paths, sidewalks bordering City-owned property, more than 1,300 high-use transit stops and other pedestrian infrastructure.
The latter stages of the Snow Plan remain unchanged – following the completion of snow clearing after 36 hours, crews will continue to monitor major routes, move into residential areas to ensure they are safe and clear of large tracks, respond to service requests and begin preparations. for the next snowy event.
Information about the City’s snow response, including information about changes to our snow plan priorities, can be found at Calgary.ca/snow.
