Snow and Ice Services at the City (Community Conversation)
Last week, I had the chance to grab a Virtual Tea with Craig McKeown, the Branch Manager for Parks and Roads Services at the City of Edmonton. His area is responsible for anything and everything related to parks and roads including Snow and Ice Control (SNIC), which was what we talked about. We had a great conversation and were able to answer residents' burning questions about this critical service in our winter city. There were a lot of highlights, and I compiled them here to share with you.
You can watch the full conversation with Craig below. Please note, there were some technical issues with the audio, but a full transcript can be accessed here.
An Introduction to Parks and Roads Services
The Parks and Roads Services team at the City is a large team of 2000+ employees who support a diverse set of programs - running anything from turf maintenance, spring sweep, trimming trees and grass, fixing streetlights and traffic lights, filling potholes and more. They handle many of the small, invisible things we take for granted but have a BIG impact on our day-to-day lives. Their team is always asking: how do we make things better for Edmontonians?
The History of Snow Policy at the City
The City’s snow policy is broken down into two main documents: the Snow and Ice Control Policy and the Administrative Procedure - both are found at edmonton.ca/safetravels. The Snow and Ice Control Policy handles the ‘why’ or the purpose of the program, and the Administrative Procedure handles the ‘how’, and outlines the service levels that Edmontonians can expect. You might have received some information in the mail about the City’s SNIC policy but let’s dive deeper.
The policies highlight the services the SNIC team does and what Edmontonians should expect from the team. For example, if you are interested in how fast you can expect a Priority One clearing on arterial roads, you can review the Administrative Procedure. These documents are what SNIC is accountable to in terms of service levels.
The Snow and Ice Policy is approved by City Council, and has been reviewed and updated a number of times over the years. The most recent change was in August 2021, and as the City continues to evolve, small updates will continue to be made to improve the snow response.
The cornerstones of the Snow and Ice Control Policy are the new outcomes and guiding principles. The five guiding principles for SNIC are Operational Excellence, Environmental Stewardship, Equity, Shared Decision Making and Public Awareness and Understanding, and the three key outcomes for SNIC are Safety, Reliability and Connectivity. You can read more here.
The budget for Snow and Ice Clearing is set by the City Council as part of the 4-year budget process. In 2022, close to $70 million + went to the snow clearing budget which includes one-time funding on top of the base budget for things like pilots. From 2018-2021 the SNIC budget has been more stagnant following a budget cut, but it is now trending upwards with the most recent increase during the 2023-2026 budget.
The SNIC team not only maintains roads through the policy, but also City-maintained sidewalks, multi-use trails, City facilities, staircases, 6500+ bus stops, and 44 kilometres of active transportation network. The amount of inventory keeps growing and will continue to as the City grows to a population of 1.25 million people. Our road and active path inventory alone is about the distance from Edmonton to England and back.
Edmonton’s Changing Snowfall Response for 2023
While Edmonton is a winter city, our climate and winters are increasingly unpredictable. We get a variety of weather conditions which provide unique challenges each year. There has also been a lot of change in the climate in the last decade - it’s not possible to maintain the same response we had 15 years ago.
The City’s snow team does a lot of research and jurisdictional scanning to compare ourselves to other municipalities like Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary and even Switzerland. Even though the weather patterns, size and kilometres of roads in our City are unique, there are places where we can learn from, especially as the climate continues to change.
This winter has been much different in terms of the freeze-thaw cycles and the quantity of snow. It has also been different in terms of the SNIC procedures where crews are no longer blading down to the pavement to try and avoid the huge accumulation of windrows. In January 2023 when the temperatures went up, it led to slushy residential roads for several weeks before a parking ban was implemented. The purpose for delaying the phase 2 residential parking ban was to avoid creating large ruts in the streets from heavy clearing trucks in soft snow, and to avoid creating large windrows or catch basin issues by waiting for colder temps. These are issues which have developed in years past. However, with the mounting feedback from Edmontonians during the month, the SNIC team did their best to adapt their plans and get streets cleared. Each winter is unique, but the SNIC team uses their years of expertise to respond to the best of their abilities to the changing climate. And there is always room for improvement.
One of the big shifts happening in Snow and Ice Control is a shift in the culture - making it so that frontline workers and operators feel more empowered to make real time decisions to respond to what they are seeing and experiencing on the streets. If a route needs to be changed, if an alleyway needs two passes to be cleared they want team members to be able to make those decisions. Being able to adapt on the fly and be flexible is important especially as our winters become more unpredictable - a strict schedule is not the best approach.
The Snow and Ice Control team will be coming to City Council in June to talk about the Snow and Ice response this year, including sharing more information on their Key Performance Indicators (metrics) and how well their team performed. They will also present what SNIC programs will look like going forward after the decisions made during the 2023-2026 budget process. If you are interested in learning more, stay tuned to City Council.
Snow and Enforcement
A lot has changed in snow enforcement over the last two years. The phase two parking ban was introduced in 2021 - this is the parking ban on residential streets which allows plows to come through and clear these areas. Parking ban enforcement is a coordinated approach between the SNIC team and the Bylaw officers.
Parking bans are implemented to help with road safety and clearing after a snowfall. The City implements targeted parking bans (e.g. shorter bans in neighbourhoods which are actively being cleared) with the intention of making it as efficient and cost effective as possible to clear the roads in the best possible way. Moving your vehicle off of the road is a small act of participation for Edmontonians to help improve SNIC operations and the entire process.
You might recall that in the first year of the phase 2 parking ban there was no enforcement - only warnings were issued since this was a new change in the City. However, in the last year the bylaw team has stepped up the enforcement and the City is now issuing tickets for not moving your vehicle during a parking ban. This is a last resort measure to ensure that crews are able to clear the streets effectively and efficiently.
In Edmonton, a lot of neighbourhoods do not have boulevards where snow can be stacked or placed. This is why we see windrows on a lot of residential streets. If cars are not moved during parking bans it makes clearing much more difficult and impacts our crews' abilities to create safe and liveable roads in the winter.
The City has a new parking ban notification system which can send email/text notifications specific to your community. You can sign up at edmonton.ca/safetravels. You’ll receive information up to 8-12 hours ahead of a parking ban for snow clearing and specific information approximately 24 hours ahead of work on your street. A second notice will be sent when crews have completed the area. This is a new service so if you have any feedback on the notification system please do share it with us!
For those not enrolled in the parking ban notification system, "No Parking" signs are put up at the entrances of neighbourhoods which are being actively cleared - keep your eyes open for these. To help make these signs more visible, the SNIC team is exploring options for 1. increasing the number of signs put out in neighbourhoods and 2. changing the colours of the signs to something more visible like yellow or orange so that they are more eye-catching.
So that Edmontonians can have better, more up-to-date information on snow clearing, the SNIC team is working on an interactive map which not only shows you when your street will be plowed, but also where all of the plows are in the City like Amarsleet Snow-hi or Connor McBlade-it so you can access this information in real time. This would help show Edmontonians what the team is doing and improve transparency. Snow teams are out working 24/7 after a snow fall clearing the roads, and afterward clearing windrows, active pathways, bus stops and more - this will help people to easily access some of this information.
Community Accessibility
There are programs that the City offers to support accessibility during the winter time. Some programs fall under Parks and Roads Services while others are located in the Community Services branch.
The Snow and Ice Control program includes a dedicated Active Pathways team which maintains sidewalks and pathways across the City, including at City-owned land, bus stops, parks, and more.
The Accessibility Placard Program is for individuals who have mobility issues - during snow clearings, the City can clear windrows from in front of your home to support your movement, essentially creating a no-windrow zone. To register, reach out to 311 who can walk you through the process.
The Community Snow-to-Go program provides grants to Community Leagues which can be used to find volunteers, contract or hire people to help clear snow around homes for Edmontonians with limited mobility, seniors or persons with disabilities. You can email communitysnowtogo@edmonton.ca to learn more about the program and find out if a league near you is participating.
Community sandboxes provide free sand which you can use on icy sidewalks and walkways - just bring your own container. A list of local sandboxes can be found on the City of Edmonton website.
The Edmonton Seniors Coordinating Council has a Seniors Home Support Program which provides referrals to various home support services for older Edmontonians including snow removal. All providers are recruited and screened by seniors organizations to ensure they are reputable. You can learn more at www.seniorshomesupports.com, and if you are in Ward Karhiio you can contact the Mill Woods Seniors Association (780-496-2997) which coordinates the program in this area.
Thank you again to Craig for joining me to share valuable information on the City’s Snow and Ice Control program. While it's not perfect, we're always working to improve it. Our SNIC team works hard throughout the winter to help make our streets safe to travel on - if you see a member of the team out clearing your streets, active pathways or sidewalks, I encourage you to take a moment and thank them for their tireless efforts.
