City ‘well-prepared’ to deal with spring melt following work done after November blizzard

The snowmelt for the spring of 2021 is being welcomed by many, but how prepared is the City of Saskatoon after a snowy winter?

According to roadways manager Tracy Danielson, the blizzard of November actually helped the city’s work leading into our warmer weather.

“In some ways, it actually well-prepared us,” she said Tuesday.

“It triggered a lot of work on Saskatoon streets, clearing snow and then also returning to pick up the snow and haul it to our snow management facilities.”

Danielson said it was a record-setting year for the city’s work in hauling snow. Around 90,000 truckloads were removed during the winter months, according to Danielson.

As Saskatoon transitions to the heat, the roadways manager said there are two aspects that the city keys on each spring.

“(It’s) the potential for flooding, as well as potholes. Right now, we have numerous crew members and pieces of equipment available to address any flooding locations that occurred, typically caused by frozen catch basins,” she explained.

“With potholes, it’s very early in the season yet, so we have materials available to us that we can undertake a temporary repair, and then come the spring when the hot-mix asphalt plants are fired up, we can return and do a permanent repair.”

She said residents can call for around-the-clock customer care if they do see issues. If problems do arise, the centre’s number is (306) 975-2476.

Danielson did add, though, that we may not be out of the snowfall just yet in Saskatoon.

“There is some winter left ahead of us,” she said. “I think we all would like to see spring, but there is (the) potential.”

When it comes to the city’s water main situations, around 35 breaks have been estimated up to this point. That’s slightly higher than the 30 the city saw up to this point in 2020.