City crews clearing priority routes following Thursday’s snowfall

CALGARY – City crews worked to clear Calgary streets on Friday following a dump of snow that began on Wednesday evening.

A total of 4.8 centimetres of snow fell at the Calgary International Airport.

According to the City of Calgary, snow stopped falling at around 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, at which point crews then began plowing Priority 1 routes. Priority 1 routes are major roadways with traffic volumes exceeding 20,000 vehicles per day, like Crowchild Trail and Macleod Trail.

Once those roads are clear, crews will work on Priority 2 routes which carry 5,000 to 19,999 vehicles per day, like Kensington Road and Acadia Drive. The city’s seven day snow plan indicates these roads have to be cleared within 48 hours after snow has stopped.

Crews will then focus on residential areas in addition to school and playground zones.

As of Friday at 7 a.m. the City of Calgary had not indicated a Snow Route Parking Ban would be put in place to aid with snow clearing.

Icy and snow-covered roads blamed for dozens of crashes

Emergency crews were called to dozens of collisions throughout the city since the snowfall started.

Police said 196 collisions were reported between midnight on Thursday and 5 a.m. Friday morning.

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