Estevan residents still shovelling out from snowstorm days later

Even the snow plows are getting stuck in Estevan. The city is still struggling to dig out its streets as it braces for more snow on the way.

The city was about 70 per cent finished plowing its roads after an initial snowfall in late November when it got hit again, Lynn Ginnis, the city foreman for Estevan’s roads, said.

“We had to restart again, and it was complete except for one block. And then we got hit on Christmas Day, so it’s a non-stop battle,” she said, adding that four graders, five loaders and 12 trucks are currently running.

“With another storm on the way, we’re going to get a second blower running and hire another six trucks or so,” Ginnis said.

The city is hoping to have snow windrows complete by Thursday or Friday, but it will take a while to get all the snow off the streets, said Ginnis.

“It’s been quite a few years since we’ve had this kind of snow. Everyone is grumbling about it,” Lynn Chipley, a local resident, said.

Each storm costs Estevan about $80,000 to $100,000, city manager Jeff Ward said.

“It’s a little taxing on our budget. Luckily we didn’t have much snow in January and February so we have a pretty substantial budget for the calendar year remaining of 2016. These storms will eat that up though, so we want to make sure we put a contingency in there for January and February,” Ward said.

Environment Canada said much of southern Saskatchewan could be ringing in the New Year with another big storm bringing 10 to 15 cm of snow, strong winds, and treacherous driving conditions.

“We wish that it would miss us at this point, but the crews are in full work mode. They know what they need to do, and if another snowfall comes we just know that they’ll be ready and willing to do it again,” Ward said.