Saskatoon looks at lessons learned from December snow dump

Saskatoon’s transportation committee has several reports regarding snow removal in the city on the table Tuesday, one of which discusses what was learned from the December 2022 snowfall.

December’s dump of the fluffy stuff cost the city $18 million to clear streets across the city and move 102,000 truckloads of snow.

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The Roadways Emergency Response Plan for Extreme or Unusual Snow Events was activated on Dec. 28 after two snow events resulted in 34 centimetres of snow accumulating on streets and sidewalks.

Saskatoon had already seen four other snow events during the winter season with a total accumulation of 40 to 50 centimetres, and there was no more storage capacity along medians, parking lanes and boulevards.

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The city said it took 64 days to complete snow removal during that time period and 1.4 million cubic metres of snow was stored at the city’s three snow management facilities.

A breakdown of the $18 million was shown in the report, showing each phase and the cost associated with it:

• Phase 1 to 3: priority street snow grading and sidewalk clearing – $600,000
• Phase 4: local street and industrial street snow grading – $700,000
• Phase 5: snow removal in BIDs – $500,000
• Phase 5: snow removal in school zones – $400,000
• Phase 5: snow removal in Priority 1 streets – $1,500,000
• Phase 5: snow removal in Priority 2 and 3 streets – $4,000,000
• Phase 5: snow removal in local streets – $9,700,000
• Sanding and salting – $600,000

The City of Saskatoon website describes Priority 1 streets as freeways, major arterials and bridges, Priority 2 streets include arterials with double lanes and bus routes, and Priority 3 streets include collector streets, business improvement district streets and school zones.

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Listed in the report were a number of lessons the city said it learned from the December snowfall.

The city said the procurement process for snow removal contractors will be shortened by having pre-qualified bidders and contract papers ready to go before the winter season.

“No Parking” signs will be adjusted to more clearly state whether parking restrictions are applicable during the day or night.

Snow grading capacity will also be improved by the city by having sander trucks upgraded with plows.

The city will also be looking at only implementing certain phases of snow removal based on the time of year, adding that work done during the December snowfall wrapped up around March 2, only a few weeks before the typical spring thaw.

An option is also being considered to have the city clear sidewalks, noting that snow piles spilled onto sidewalks and created barriers between roads and sidewalks.

The city noted that there are roughly 1,700 kilometres of sidewalk in the city and only 200 kilometres are currently cleared by the city. It added that this work would create more cost and would take several weeks, but that almost half of residents that responded to a public survey said snow piles impacted their ability to use sidewalks.