Lethbridge snow fighters busy over the holidays

LETHBRIDGE – The city ended up with a white Christmas just in time for Santa’s big arrival, and that means city snow fighters were kept busy over the holidays.

“We were running shifts all through the Christmas holidays. It was skeleton shifts but still, they kept the priority one system in reasonable shape, so now this week and next week we should be able to work our way into priority two and three,” said Lee Perkins, city operations manager with the City of Lethbridge.

The city clears routes based on volume. Priority one routes consist of major roads like Whoop Up Drive, Scenic Drive and Mayor Magrath Drive.

“Priority two is school zones and the remaining high volume collector areas, and then of course, priority three are the remaining bus routes,” Perkins added.

As of Tuesday morning, the airport had over 12 centimetres of snow in the last five days, a manageable amount for snow fighters, so far.

“If we get more snow over the next few days you’ll actually see us mobilize, bring in contractors and start clearing snow in all three zones,” Perkins added.

Crews have also been using a brine this year, which is making a big difference on some major roads.

“I think motorists will really notice it on Whoop Up Drive. We’ve been paying quite a bit of attention, we’ve been using a lot more liquid brine, which is a calcium product, and as motorists will know Whoop Up Drive is mostly bare pavement. There’s still some slushy areas, but we’re paying much more attention to it with this liquid product and it’s working quite well so far.”

There are over 1,500 kilometres of roadway in Lethbridge so the city asks all residents to be patient while crews try to keep up with the snowfall. There are things drivers can do to help out snowplows and sanders, like not following too close and giving them lots of room when you pass.