EDMONTON – Environment Canada lifted a heavy snowfall warning Tuesday morning for Edmonton and surrounding areas, despite snow continuing to accumulate on the Capital Region through the morning.
Environment Canada sent out the heavy snowfall warning Monday evening, before lifting it early Tuesday morning.
Up to 15 centimetres of snow was expected to fall through Tuesday morning.
The City of Edmonton, meanwhile, has had crews working around the clock to clear the city’s main roads.
“We started with all of our equipment out on Saturday, and they’ve been out full force since then, right around the clock,” said Bob Dunford, Director of Roadway Maintenance with the City of Edmonton.
“As of 7:00 this morning, we were at 85 per cent of the arterials were plowed out.” Dunford added work was still being done on collector bus routes.
“We’re just getting going on those. We hadn’t got as far along as we’d like to,” he said Monday.
Part of the delay, he explained, was because only 87 hired graders responded to the City’s call for assistance. There are 230 on the list in total, and Dunford said 120 are needed to do the job well.
“I’m happy enough… It was a fair turnout by the hired graders, not stellar by any means… We did OK with that.”
As of 7:00 a.m. Sunday, 209 pieces of equipment were deployed to sand, blade and plow city streets.
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About 20 centimetres of snow fell in Edmonton Saturday. As a result, the City of Edmonton issued a parking ban, which came into effect at 8:00 a.m. Sunday.
READ MORE: Season parking ban declared in Edmonton beginning 8:00 a.m. Sunday
“We’re asking residents to please adhere to the parking ban and give us an opportunity to clear the bus runs,” said Roland Aitchison, Superintendent of Operations, Roadway Maintenance, with the City of Edmonton.
Vehicles parked where the ‘Seasonal Parking Ban’ signage is in place must be removed for the duration of the parking ban so crews can plow curb to curb.
“Our crews need to have that room so they can move their equipment around. Once they’ve gone through the road is opened up and there’s a lot more room for traffic to do the lane changing and different circumstances on the road. So it’s very important that they respond and help us out with moving their vehicles,” Aitchison explained.
Dunford believes the parking ban will remain in place for at least another day, lasting through Tuesday.
“Sunday wasn’t a very good day for cooperation on bus routes… There wasn’t a lot of compliance,” said Dunford. “We do have enforcement out today.”
As of 5 p.m. on Monday, there were 314 parking ban tickets issued, 19 tows requested and 7 tows executed.
The city will keep the parking ban in place since more snow is expected.
“It was a fair snowfall and of course we’re expecting two more centimetres tonight.”
Parking Enforcement Services Coordinator Erin Blaine stresses that the parking ban is put in place so that graders can remove snow more quickly and make the roads easier to navigate for everyone.
“It just makes it much faster and better for citizens,” said Blaine, who added usually bans last for about two or three days. “We can’t tell right now how fast we’re going to get through.”
Those who don’t obey the parking ban can be fined $50 plus towing fees, which can total about $200.
Dunford admits he has heard negative comments about how the city handles snow removal, but says it’s not unexpected.
“It is frustrating to hear people complaining… I’ll give kudos to our staff, they worked very, very hard over this weekend. Everybody was out. Everybody’s putting out all the effort they could possibly could, and to hear criticism when you know all your staff is doing everything they possibly can is a little disheartening, but that’s kind of what we expect.”
On Saturday, Edmonton police responded to 165 collisions on city streets. 126 of those were property damage collisions, nine were injury collisions and 30 were hit-and-runs.
Edmontonians can stay informed about the status of the parking ban by visiting the City of Edmonton’s website, watching the City’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, and by signing up for email notifications.
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