(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

quicker response

City of Red Deer piloting quicker plow response after snowfall

Dec 9, 2019 | 6:12 PM

The City of Red Deer is stepping up its snow and ice control by lowering the minimum snowfall needed before plows come out.

Until now, the city’s policy stated that plows begin working when there is a 10 cm snow pack. It now stipulates a “5 to 10 cm snow pack” as it relates to blue downtown roads (third priority), green collector, transit and residential streets adjacent to schools (fourth priority), and regular residential streets (sixth priority).

This will be enacted as a pilot project starting immediately, with a report on its success coming back to council by the end of June.

“This allows us to start sooner to proceed with residential plowing, and that’s basically what we’ve heard (is wanted) from the community,” says Greg Sikora, Public Works manager. “The wait has been lengthy in the past because we’ve gone through several freeze/thaw cycles which delay that triggered start (at 10 cm).”

The plowing will also go right down to the pavement, with windrows to allow for parking on both sides of the street.

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Goals for the City’s communications department during the 2019/20 season include increasing registration for Notify Red Deer by 10 per cent. As of Oct. 2, 11,532 people out of 13,721 subscribers get Snow Zone alerts.

“We’re better together,” Sikora says of the responsibility of residents to be engaged in the program. “We will go ahead and plow the streets, but it requires residents’ assistance to be a part of the program, be plugged in and connected, then we’ll come through as quickly as possible and people won’t get a ticket.”

Other initiatives the Public Works department is considering include improved grey route service levels, real-time plowing update using GIS mapping, and increasing parking ticket fines. The fine for leaving a parked vehicle on a street during plowing is $65. The tow fee (on green routes) is $135. There is a $35 ticket deduction if the fine is paid within 10 days.

Public Works is also looking at eliminating parking fines for grey routes, and revisiting the Traffic Bylaw to prohibit the shoveling of snow from sidewalks onto roadways.