The official start of spring is only a few days away, and the snow in Saskatoon is starting to melt. Streets and sidewalks are wet, and the days are getting longer.
The City of Saskatoon says so far, it looks like a slow spring melt. That should help city crews manage things like potholes, which are always a problem this time of year.
“We have actually started repairing some potholes already with cold mix, before the hot mix asphalt concrete becomes available from the hot mix plans in the last couple of weeks of April,” said Goran Saric, City of Saskatoon director of roadways, fleet and support.
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Another problem involving winter’s transition to spring is plugged catch drains on the streets.
They can lead to large puddles and flooding, and the city is doing what it can to stay on top of the problem.
“We are also aware of some flood-prone locations. We have listed those locations and some of the catch basins where we’ve seen ponding typically at this time of year,” said Saric.
The forecast for the next week has temperatures only a few degrees above zero. These are enough to keep the melt going, but the snow will still freeze at night, which helps slow the rate of melting down.
“We are seeing a slow melt here. So temperatures during the day are above zero, and they drop below zero during night, which basically results in that snow melt,” said Saric.
The City is asking Saskatoon residents not to throw snow from their yards into the streets, and to clear snow and ice from their sidewalks.
They’re also asking drivers to pay attention to the people on the sidewalks when driving through some of the massive puddles.
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