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It snowed again in Saskatoon— making things more difficult for the City of Saskatoon.
Following between 30 and 40 cm of snow on Sunday and into Monday in the Bridge City, an additional two to four cm of snow is forecast to fall Wednesday.
Terry Schmidt is the City of Saskatoon’s general manager of transportation and construction.
He said that aside from cleaning up from the weekend blizzard, Wednesday’s focus is responding to the snow Saskatoon is already receiving.
“Last winter, the city had five snow events that roughly equated to the same snowfall we experienced this weekend,” Schmidt said in a Wednesday press release. “This is an incredible challenge; we are doing everything we can to get Saskatoon back to a daily routine.”
Under normal circumstances, the City does not extend its snow clearing service to residential neighbourhoods. This snow event, however, is different.
Tuesday, the City said it will move ahead with the residential snow clearing.
The City is now acting with a plan to restore mobility on all roads within Saskatoon.
In the update Wednesday, it said all ‘Priority 1’ streets have had drifting removed, with many graded curb-to-curb. Nearly all ‘Priority 2’ streets and 85 per cent of ‘Priority 3’ streets are passable, the City said.
Wednesday, city graders and contractor graders are working on the east side of the City before returning to priority streets to complete curb-to-curb cleaning.
“We will continue to work around–the–clock on priority streets with a full contingent of roadways staff and contractors until cleanup is complete,” the City’s Wednesday update reads.
It is anticipated that additional crews will be able to start work in other residential neighbourhoods Thursday.
“The plan is to put as many resources as possible in as many neighbourhoods as possible all at the same time across the City. This work will be done night and day, in all neighbourhoods,” Schmidt said. “We understand night work may cause some noise and inconvenience but working through the night will greatly reduce the schedule to complete the work.”
Residents are still being asked to use available online services for Saskatoon City Hall, including taxes, assessment and utility-related matters. There is minimal street parking at City Hall due to the windrows, which will be cleared at a later date.
The City is also urging residents to plan out their travel if they plan to vote Friday in the civic election.
Collection calendars for the City were also re-adjusted due to the blizzard on the weekend. Monday collections were rescheduled to Saturday, while Tuesday collections were rescheduled to Sunday.
Attempts to resume collections Wednesday and for the remainder of the week are being made, according to the City.
Transit has resumed modified service on most routes, with users being asked to consult the real-time Transit app, Google Maps Transit on desktop or SaskatoonTransit.ca for real-time route information.
The City’s indoor arenas have now reopened for scheduled rentals, but parking is limited at Cosmo Arena. Leisure Centres will reopen to the public on Wednesday at noon, with the exception of the Cosmo Civic Centre and Terry Fox Track which are closed on statutory holidays.
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo remains closed.
