Regina mayor digs for better ways to tackle snow in the city
The City of Regina will review its winter maintenance plan following the massive snowfall earlier this month.
On Monday morning, Mayor Michael Fougere said the city needs to provide better winter services, as he spoke with the press about what he wants city administration to consider when looking ahead to next season.
Fougere wants administration to consider the amount of snow that dictates when residential streets are cleared (currently it's 25 centimetres), whether to to remove snow ridges in front of driveways, as well as what happens around schools, near hospitals and on bus routes.
"I'm not suggesting we change our categories of how we do our streets but I'm saying we can do another system where we can look at bus routes as well," he said. Fougere suggested bus routes could be a good option for people unable to drive due to weather conditions.
Mayor wants to avoid another ticket backlash
After the winter storm, several residents took to social media to shame the city for ticketing drivers during and shortly after the snowstorm.
The city forgave 117 parking tickets following public backlash. Fougere said he doesn't want to see that happen again.
"We need to be somewhat compassionate and understanding if someone is truly stuck on a road or on the side of the road through no fault of their own. We have to look at whether it's really wise to be ticketing them, because you can't get them out anyway."
Fougere said changes to services will likely have budget implications and therefore will have to be put before city council.
He said Regina does look at how other cities tackle winter maintenance, "but it's a balance between ability to pay for that, the taxes for that, and the service people get."
City administration would not provide a date or timeline on when the review is expected to be complete.
