As Winnipeggers work to dig themselves out of a heavy overnight snowfall, city crews are on the job.
Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of streets maintenance, says even if you’ve already seen a plow coming down your street, it won’t be a one-and-done operation — snow clearing equipment will be back.
“We know that we’re going to redo all the streets and all the sidewalks,” Cantor told 680 CJOB’s The Start.
“We started going just to make sure that our original streets are clear for buses, for traffic, for emergency services, and we keep going. … I think we’ll get to the point where we can go and clear them thoroughly after the snow is done.”
“Since last night we’ve been plowing the streets. … We’ll be continuing to do that this morning and moving to our collectors and bus routes as well, just to make sure that the city keeps going,” Cantor said Thursday.
Due to the heavy snow, the city has put in place a temporary extended winter route parking ban.
The ban, which will run until 7 a.m. Sunday, prohibits parking daily between 12-7 a.m. on designated winter routes, to make way for snow clearing equipment.
The city said Winnipeggers can find out if the ban applies to specific addresses or locations by using the online tool, consulting the Know Your Zone app, or calling 311.
If you’re caught in violation of the ban, you could receive a $100 ticket as well as getting your car towed.
The snowy day has led to numerous cancellations and road closures, with organizations like the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority warning residents that some community health services, like homecare, could experience delays or cancellations.
According to Environment Canada, the snow will eventually clear up — only to make way for bitter cold, well into the -20 C area, moving forward throughout parts of Manitoba.
“This residual snowfall will be remaining over the area — scattered flurries — but the bulk of the heavy snowfall will be tapering off late today,” meteorologist Keane Kokolsky told The Start on Thursday.
“On the back side of it, it’ll be clearing up, maybe some residual cloud, and then more or less the extreme cold and cooler temperatures do begin to move into the area in the coming days.”
“These types of systems, they tend to overachieve in snowfall amounts. What we’re seeing right now over most of the Red River Valley and parts of south and western Manitoba are heavier snowfall accumulations over the span of 36 hours.”
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