The City of Winnipeg will be scraping accumulated snow and ice off the streets in the coming days.
The extreme cold has caused the snow and ice to bond on the roads, causing difficult conditions for drivers to navigate. Ruts and icy sections have become a common issue. Many Winnipeggers have been taking to social media to voice their concerns.
“Has anyone heard when they are cleaning the awful ruts that are all over main and side streets,” one person tweeted.
“I wonder how many road collisions are caused by horrible ruts and dangerously shoddy snow clearing,” another person said on Twitter.
Postal workers have also expressed concerns about current state of the roads.
Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 856 told Global News they have been fielding numerous complaints by members about how difficult it is to navigate the streets.
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Health and Safety Officer Reggie Taman said minor collisions have taken place because of the conditions.
“It just goes to show how fast things can happen. My concern is too we have a lot of members on the street, walking. We need streets cleaned. It compromises the safety of not just our drivers, but the public driving, walking and such,” Taman said.
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Taman said these concerns have been taken to the city.
“Conversations have happened. We’ve thrown out emails to the city and we’ve gone through managers with Canada Post on how to resolve these issues,” Taman said.
So far, no concrete solutions have been provided to postal workers.
“Theses are challenges that present themselves every year,” he said.
A city spokesperson told Global News that graders will be used over the next few days to try and get the extra snow and ice off the roads. Mild temperatures over the next little while are expected to help with clearing.
Salt could be more effective with the thaw. It’s not very effective when temperatures get to -9 C or colder.
In the meantime, local mechanics have been seeing damage caused by the ruts.
West End Tire said they have been seeing vehicles on a regular basis with damage that’s related to the ruts.
“It can cause damage to your suspension. Like ball joints, bushings, shocks and items like that,” service manager Yan Audergon said.
“You can also have tire damage,” he added.
The city is reminding everyone of the snow route parking ban currently in effect from 2 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Officials said this will help crews clean-up the streets as best as possible.
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