The City of Calgary is ready for snow

With the first snowfall of the winter season forecasted this weekend, The City of Calgary is ready to jump into action to help commuters stay safe and keep moving.

“In anticipation of snowfall over the next few days, we have been getting our vehicles and crews ready,” says Roads Maintenance District Manager Jim Fraser. “This first storm of the season will likely result in accumulation of snow on the streets, but the warm road temperatures and mild weather should make this a relatively easy clean-up for us.”

The City’s Snow and Ice Control (SNIC) program plan is organized months before the winter season to account for a variety of weather conditions. Under the plan, crews sand, salt and plow roads based on a Council-approved priority system - the more traffic there is on a roadway, the higher the priority.

“This priority system keeps the greatest number of commuters, moving quickly and safely,” says Fraser.

While City crews are prepared, the first snowfall of the season always seems to catch people a little off guard. For this reason, The City is reminding drivers to prepare for potentially slower driving conditions. “Give yourself a little bit of extra time, plan for delays, slow down and drive to the conditions,” adds Fraser.

Drivers are reminded to leave at least 10 metres distance - about three car lengths - between your vehicle and the working sanders, graders and other snow removal equipment. Do not pass working sanders or equipment.

Stay Informed

There are several ways Calgarians can stay informed on winter road conditions, such as visiting calgary.ca/snow, following us on Twitter @yyctransport, viewing our traffic cameras or by contacting 311.

In addition, The City is launching a new Snow Route notification system through the myID system. Citizens, particularly those who live on snow routes, are encouraged to sign up for these text and e-mail notifications.

To sign up, users can go to myID.calgary.ca, sign in, select “Open a Service”, click on “Transportation” and click on “Roads Notifications”. Alternatively, they can go to https://roadsnotifications.calgary.ca and subscribe.

It is important to note that users of the previous email notification system must also register for the new application with a MyID account, and will be contacted to make the switch via email.

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