Snow-clearing policy to review bike lanes, cul-de-sacs, intersections
City councillors say they share Edmontonians' frustration with the way the city is clearing snow and ice from roads, cul-de-sacs and bike lanes this winter.
Council agreed Friday that the operations branch should re-evaluate its clearing policy and report back next week with a checklist of the areas they intend to tackle. A full report will be brought to council in June.
Coun. Jon Dziadyk said he wants the review to assess why bike lanes seem to be cleared in a timely manner when some roads are not.
"I'm hearing from a lot of people that they think it's unfair when they see a pristine bike lane — rarely being used, in their observations — cleared down to pavement, when they're driving a vehicle that maybe isn't four-wheel drive and maybe has plenty of challenges navigating the roadways," Dziadyk said.
Coun. Ben Henderson dismissed Dziadyk's assertion.
"I did want to challenge the kind of myth that's out there that somehow or other we're making the roads wait until we've done the bike lanes," he said. "The two things are unrelated."
Plowing cul-de-sacs is costly
Deputy manager of operations, Gord Cebryk, said clearing bike lanes is an entirely different process from roads and uses different equipment.
Cebryk acknowledged however the city could redirect some staff to focus on roads.
Henderson asked Cebryk why the city is slow — according to public complaints — to clear snow from cul-de-sacs.
Cebryk said cul-de-sacs require crews to haul snow away, a much more expensive process requiring different equipment and personnel.
"I understand what the nightmare is," Henderson replied. "But we're going to have to deal with that nightmare one of these weeks, right? Why we have to wait to deal with the nightmare is what I'm missing."
Cebryk said the issue will be added to administration's policy review.
The most frequent complaint this year is icy intersections, Cebryk said.
The freeze-thaw cycle and extreme changes in temperature are to blame, not council's decision last fall to discontinue using calcium chloride, he said.
"We are delivering the best service we can so any changes in the service levels are due to basically the weather changes and that's what we've been adapting to," Cebryk told council.
Coun. Mike Nickel said he wants snow-and-ice clearing added to the city auditor's work plan for 2020, a necessary step toward a full audit on a city operations area.
"If we're going to actually try to deliver the service in the most cost-effective and responsible fashion, the employees and management really need to get this fixed," Nickel said.
A full report on revisions to the city's snow and ice policy is expected in June.
@natashariebe
