[IanO]

99 Avenue from 106-109 is still not done and neither is 109st from 100-99ave.

In your CAPITAL city next to your home of government where you currently do not have two turn lanes into and out of it because of windrows.

It's beyond perplexing.

 

[David A]

It was fully cleared south of Jasper along Shoppers and the Milner where 0 business entrances front...

FFS

They have a bus stop and I think some of the snow clearing was done by the building If it was only left to the city, well it would probably be a mess like elsewhere.

 

[thommyjo]

I can’t comment on sidewalks but Edmonton has approximately 10,000 lane kilometers of roads while Ottawa has approximately 6,000.

Totally. That would suggest more expensive for us, but in the “more expensive” side for Ottawa you have:

- 60% more snow
- Significantly faster
- removal of windrows
- sidewalks.

Hard to see their budget only being 50% more than us but seemingly waaaay more and better service. I’m sure lane kms is a big factor, but saying sidewalks will push us to a 300 million dollars budget, more than 3x Ottawa’s seems insane. Especially when that’s still 5-10 day service levels for many of our arterials and MUPs and theirs is 24-48hrs essentially.

 

[thommyjo]

Glad that Edgemont will be completed before Whikwentowin or Garneau. You know, central areas with thousands of residents on some blocks, dozens of businesses, major university.

 

[kcantor]

^
You mean central areas like Whikwentowin and Garneau with grid streets and multiple closely spaced arterials and numerous bus routes that all get cleared before any residential neighborhoods are done??

 

[Airboy]

OK driving through downtown and area yesterday. THERE SHOULD BE NO WINDROWS Left at this point. The Government precinct is a mess and should not have snow piles there at all. Went by the Italian centre and the street corners are dangerous for pedestrians. and God forbit if you have a wheelchair. Around the Strathcona Market and Downtown are virtually impossible to navigate. My wife said if she didn't have me to help she would not be able to go anywhere.

 

[thommyjo]

^
You mean central areas like Whikwentowin and Garneau with grid streets and multiple closely spaced arterials and numerous bus routes that all get cleared before any residential neighborhoods are done??

Are you suggesting the central areas “get enough” snow clearing already and therefore it’s ok that not evenly fully built out communities get cleared first?

If you’ve driven around Whikwentowin at all, with 10x the density of edgemont, you’d see how much more deserving of snow clearing they are. Not just for the drivers, but accessing transit or walking is a nightmare there right now due to intersections.

I’m not sure there’s any objective measure to justify edgemont being cleared before Whikwentowin other than a stupid “rotation of order” that the city likes to claim is “fair”.

Same reason parts of downtown didn’t have gravel swept in late May for playoff parties, but good news, Stillwater is clean!! (Except for all the new gravel and mud from all the homes still under construction there… )

 

[TAS]

Wow - the new Edmonton Method like Vancouver?

 

[The_Cat]

This weather is nice. I've been able to clear most of the remaining snow off the driveway.

 

[Gronk!]

No tows as the snow goes: city runs out of money to tow vehicles during residential parking ban

With Phase 2 of Edmonton’s parking ban underway, residents who don’t move their vehicles won’t need to worry about getting towed, but could still see a $250 ticket on their windshield.

www.ctvnews.ca

 

[johnnyboy]

Are you suggesting the central areas “get enough” snow clearing already and therefore it’s ok that not evenly fully built out communities get cleared first?

If you’ve driven around Whikwentowin at all, with 10x the density of edgemont, you’d see how much more deserving of snow clearing they are. Not just for the drivers, but accessing transit or walking is a nightmare there right now due to intersections.

I’m not sure there’s any objective measure to justify edgemont being cleared before Whikwentowin other than a stupid “rotation of order” that the city likes to claim is “fair”.

Same reason parts of downtown didn’t have gravel swept in late May for playoff parties, but good news, Stillwater is clean!! (Except for all the new gravel and mud from all the homes still under construction there… )

The Snow & Ice Control Program did a Reddit AMA today. Their response to a similar question was:

"This year neighbourhoods with boulevards are being cleared first to facilitate windrow placement due to the warm weather, after that they will be cleared geographically from equipment dispatch locations."

 

[thommyjo]

The Snow & Ice Control Program did a Reddit AMA today. Their response to a similar question was:

"This year neighbourhoods with boulevards are being cleared first to facilitate windrow placement due to the warm weather, after that they will be cleared geographically from equipment dispatch locations."

So not the most strategic per usual. Good.

You’d think the number of people who benefit from X road being cleared would drive the logic. If it takes equal time to clear 10 blocks for 300 houses or 10 blocks for 4000 residents plus a few hundred daily patrons of businesses, you’d think the later gets you the best ROI…

 

[thommyjo]

The Snow & Ice Control Program did a Reddit AMA today. Their response to a similar question was:

"This year neighbourhoods with boulevards are being cleared first to facilitate windrow placement due to the warm weather, after that they will be cleared geographically from equipment dispatch locations."

Also saw this response from them:

“24/5! We will be pausing from 7pm Friday until 7am Monday to allow for weekend parking. Outside of that, our crews are working.”

How does this make sense?? You can barely park in many areas currently without risking getting stuck. 4 vehicles got stuck on my road today (that I saw). How does weekend parking matter when they clear roads at 9pm? Are there more people street parking at 2pm on Saturday than a weekday evening?

 

[Yeggy]

I’m pretty sure they use calcium chloride and sand and salt - just like Edmonton - except for the bridge which uses liquid potassium acetate which is biodegradable and less corrosive than potassium chloride.

You would be wrong, its Potassium Chloride, straight from knacks mouth. .

 

[IanO]

So not the most strategic per usual. Good.

You’d think the number of people who benefit from X road being cleared would drive the logic. If it takes equal time to clear 10 blocks for 300 houses or 10 blocks for 4000 residents plus a few hundred daily patrons of businesses, you’d think the later gets you the best ROI…

Nope. It's been my continuous complaint with spring sweeping (as you shared).

It's about fairness, geographic proximity and ritual.

Certainly there are exceptions to this and some areas do see additional attention, but the fact that Downtown is still in progress 3 weeks later says a lot.

Our alley is used by hundreds of people a day, both driving and walking and was almost impassible for 2 weeks, but hey, it's just a Downtown alley... but it's not! Downtown alleys are logistic backbones and often the front driveways for major towers.

We continue to view areas with similar lenses, even though they are drastically different in use and function.