Saskatoon crews and contractors grading high-priority streets after snowfall

City crews and contractors have started the work of grading Saskatoon’s high-priority routes.

The city said about eight centimetres of snow fell on the city on Wednesday, which means contractors were brought in to help city crews grade the roads. The city said eight plows and 26 graders are working to move snow, while 20 sanding trucks are hitting slippery sections to improve traction for drivers.

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The city’s top priority is grading freeways and major arterial routes like Circle Drive and Idylwyld Drive, which are to be graded within 12 hours of the end of the snowfall. After that, the workers will focus on arterial routes with double lanes and bus routes like Clarence Avenue and Millar Avenue. Those routes are to be graded within 48 hours of the snowfall ending. Finally, crews will move to collector streets, business improvement district streets and school zones, which are to be graded within 72 hours of the end of the snowfall.

“Crews will remain active until all Priority streets have been graded,” the City of Saskatoon said in a statement.

“If additional snowfall occurs during the response, operators may need to return to Priority 1 streets to keep major routes passable before resuming work on Priority 2 and 3 streets. This makes sure emergency access and citywide mobility remain a top priority.”

In addition to the crews clearing roads, the city said it has four sidewalk plows working to clear sidewalks at city facilities, the Meewasin Trail, bridge and overpass walkways and pathways along freeways and major arterial routes. Those are all to be cleared within 48 hours after a snowfall, the city added.

“Residents are reminded to watch for blue and amber flashing lights and to give road maintenance equipment the space needed to operate safely,” the city noted.

The progress of snow grading can be tracked using the city’s priority street snow grading map.