City council knows that snow removal is one of the biggest issues residents complain about — after garbage pickup, of course — but it will not enhance that cold service because of the high price tag.
The current winter maintenance policy — structured around five annual snow events — calls for plowing and hauling of snow from four priority routes when snowfalls exceed five centimetres (about two inches). The policy ensures 123.7 kilometres of roads are cleared, with snow completely removed from 25.4 kilometres of roads.
Snow hauling covers downtown commercial zones, school frontages for enhanced visibility and high-traffic roadways where storage is not possible, such as Ninth and First avenues northwest.
Premium service
“Snow hauling is a premium service and is four to five times higher in cost and service deliverability than conventional snow plowing. The current snow haul costs an average of $3.03 per metre and takes four to five days to complete, dependent on the quantity of snowfall,” Darrin Stephanson, director of public works, said during a 2022 budget discussion meeting.
A combination of municipal and contractor units — semi-trucks and trailers, graders, front-end loaders and flagging vehicles — is required to complete this work.
There are 28.2 kilometres of priority 1 and 2 routes where hauling is unnecessary since the snow can be pushed into ditches, he continued. Meanwhile, 33.2 kilometres of roads could be considered for extra snow hauling, although most of these streets are residential, making it difficult to send in heavy equipment.
Normally there are three to four major snowfalls a year, with one big blizzard usually dropping over 15 centimetres of snow, Stephanson added.
Costs to upgrade hauling
Stephanson presented two options for increasing snow hauling on the 33.2 kilometres of roads.
The first option is the “lowest level of service at the lowest cost,” with snow windrows hauled away 18 days after a major snowfall. This would add an extra $603,575 annually to the operating budget.
The second option would see more crews and equipment remove windrows nine days after a major snowfall. Four major pieces of equipment would have to be purchased for $1.55 million, while an extra $916,794 would be added annually to the operating budget for this work. Additional employees would also have to be hired.
Since option 2 totals $2,466,794, that would equal a tax increase of eight per cent in 2022.
Neither option was acceptable to council, which voted unanimously to receive and file Stephanson’s report and maintain the existing snow clearing policy.
Council discussion
The most recent snowfall forced city crews to pile snow in the centre turning lanes of First Avenue Northwest and on Main Street, Coun. Dawn Luhning pointed out. She didn’t think snow should be piled on these streets because of how narrow they are and because of the centre lanes.
Crews will, in the future, push snow into the parking lanes on First Avenue Northwest, which shouldn’t affect the centre lanes, replied Stephanson.
Residents complain about snow removal in the winter and garbage pickup in the summer, but there isn’t enough budget to add this extra cost, said Coun. Doug Blanc.
“But I think snow removal is very, very important because it’s something the citizens can see. It’s something that they can grasp onto,” compared to work with the cast iron replacement program, he added.
Residents would be dissatisfied with option 1, while option 2 would bring a major tax hike, which means council must defend the existing policy and say that staff must work within budget and available equipment, said Coun. Heather Eby.
Meanwhile, she thought city staff was doing as well as possible clearing snow given the conditions in Saskatchewan.
