Saskatoon unveils plan to clear snow from more city streets

The cleanup continues in Saskatoon after a weekend of snow and freezing rain.

In a media release Tuesday, the City of Saskatoon said snow removal crews had been able to open at least one lane for traffic on all major and secondary roads in the city.

(Rachel Hamilton/Submitted)

High-traffic streets will be the crews’ focus, but the city said it understands that some residential roads remain impassable.

“The city’s snow-clearing service does not extend to residential neighbourhoods, but we recognize that this is an unusually large amount of snowfall, all at once, for our city,” Terry Schmidt, the city’s general manager of transportation and construction, said in the release. “For this reason, we’ve decided to proceed with a plan to restore mobility on all roads, including residential streets.

“We recognize the challenges people are facing, and we want to help fix the problem. We’re going to throw everything we have at this effort to clear away the snow and get people moving around again.”

Residential snow removal will start after the high-traffic thoroughfares are open. According to the city, crews will start on the residential streets that they deem to be the worst.

(Rachel Hamilton/Submitted)

If more snow arrives — and it’s in the forecast for Wednesday — the crews will have to continue focusing on the major streets.

The city also said crews are planning next week to start removing the windrows left by graders in school zones. That will give more space to vehicles parking or dropping off and picking up children.

Residents who need to visit City Hall are being told there is minimal street parking available because of windrows. They’re to be cleared away at a later date.

Garbage and recycling collection schedules have been updated. Collections originally scheduled for Monday will now be done Saturday and those set for Tuesday will be done Sunday.

The city’s hope is that collections set for the rest of the week will be done as scheduled.

Saskatoon Transit is on a modified schedule on most routes. Riders are encouraged to check online for route information.