City of Saskatoon, SHA preach patience during storm cleanup

The City of Saskatoon is in what it calls “recovery mode.”

In a media release Monday, the city said the blizzard that hit over the weekend has presented “an incredibly challenging situation” that officials continue to work through.

According to the release, the majority of streets in the city are blocked with snow. Circle Drive is passable, the city said, but some of its on- and off-ramps aren’t.

As well, streets such as College Drive, Eighth Street, 22nd Street and Idywyld Drive are down to one lane. All other Priority 1 streets are snowed in.

“Last night was a challenge as we were having to balance plowing and grading with helping emergency services rescue stranded motorists,” Goran Saric, the city’s director of roadways, fleet and support, said in the release.

“We’re staying focused on our priority road system. Once the highest priority streets are cleared, we’ll move through the rest of the system, at times returning to the highest priority roads multiple times to improve mobility.”

As a result, the city has asked residents to avoid unnecessary travel. If drivers must be on the roads, they’re reminded to give themselves extra time and to watch for plows and other emergency equipment.

Saskatoon Transit service has been suspended and will resume only when the Priority 1 streets are passable.

Garbage and recycling collection slated for Monday was suspended and rescheduled for Saturday.

The city’s leisure centres are closed, except for those being used for the civic election.

The city said some election workers were having trouble getting to their polling places and some locations weren’t open.

“The Election Office asks voters for patience as city road crews work to respond to this weekend’s severe winter storm,” the release said. “As crews need time and space this morning, voters are encouraged to plan to visit polling locations this afternoon.”

The Saskatchewan Health Authority also asked for patience, as many health-care worker were having trouble getting to work. That could cause delays for some services such as home-care visits.

The SHA also said it was encouraging people not to travel to non-urgent health-care appointments, instead opting to reschedule them.

Saskatoon hospitals are open for urgent and emergency care.