WESTLOCK - An updated policy will compel Town of Westlock snowplows to roll when there’s a 100-millimetre-or-greater snowfall, or when the snow has compacted to that same depth on area roads — a change from the previous standard of 150mm — while the municipality is committed to ensuring residents know exactly when their streets will be cleared.
Those are just some of the changes to Snow Removal Guidelines Policy P-20-2007 approved 7-0 by councillors following 20 minutes of debate at their Feb. 13 meeting. Changes to the six-page policy were first discussed at-length during the Jan. 16 committee of the whole (COW) meeting after the town publicly apologized Jan. 3 for the state of its snow-covered streets following a barrage of complaints.
Mayor Ralph Leriger said the policy, which has been revised a handful of times over the decade he’s been in office, aims to be realistic and noted that “communication will be key” citing recent troubles in the Town of Morinville where the CAO had to “basically issue a cease-and-desist letter” to residents who were unhappy with that community’s snow-clearing efforts.
“I think that (operations director) Robin (Benoit) worked really hard with his team to produce something that they can achieve. There’s no point in bringing in a policy if you don’t feel comfortable with your ability to implement it,” said Leriger in a follow-up interview Feb. 17.
Letting people know
Benoit noted that in addition to their online communication across their website and social media channels, their snow removal signs have “gotten better” and include the day for when they’ll be on site.
As it stands, the town’s website has a dedicated page called “Roads, Sidewalks, and Lanes” to support the snow removal process and it will provide details on road maintenance throughout the winter and summer seasons, show the zone and priory route maps and will detail the entire process from “trigger events to the final cleanup.”
Zone maps and snow route removal dates will be shared via “all town communication channels” a minimum of 24-hours before the snow removal efforts start, if possible, and messaging will continue throughout the event as information is made available. Additional seasonal messaging explaining the process, zones, and priority routes will also be shared at the start of the winter through social media, print ads in the local newspaper and the Town of Westlock Community Guides.
“We’ve discussed it with the new zones and new priority maps that the messaging will be that snow operation will begin on ‘X’ day and we’ll start in ‘X’ zone and that’s what we’re doing this week so there isn’t going to be a start-stop daily throughout the week,” explained town communications and marketing coordinator Debbie Mottus. “So, it’ll be here’s the process and here’s where we’re starting and then if there’s anything weird or wonderful where we finish early or if there’s an extreme delay, then we’ll message that, too.”
Policy deep dive
Benoit called the Jan. 16 COW discussion with council “great” and confirmed that in tweaking the policy, all operations staff were tapped for input on setting timelines and whether they have the right equipment to do the job.
His request for decision (RFD) notes that they receive “significant calls from residents” about road-safety conditions before the compacted snow depth reaches l00mm and while compacted snow accumulates, significant rutting can occur over time “greatly impacting vehicle and pedestrian safety.”
The RFD notes a rut in l50mm of compacted snow can result in a centre crest between ruts of over l50mm which is greater than the ground clearance of most vehicles.
“Deep ruts also make it difficult to steer a vehicle in a turn. For safety reasons the current practice is to activate full removal prior to l50mm accumulation.”
Meanwhile, for any singular event with a loose snowfall greater than 200mm, the town will focus on clearing the driving lanes, in order of priority, leaving plowed snow in windrow form alongside the road in the curb lane, with the intent to remove the windrows after all roads and lanes have been initially plowed — for this type of event the town will supplement operations with contracted services.
Also codified is that once an event has started, the town “shall commit the resources necessary to complete a full-removal cycle within a 12-day time period, except for extreme events.” In extreme events, snow will be pushed to one side of the street to open roads as quickly as possible leaving windrows behind, and then removing windrows within 12 days once all roads are open.
Benoit writes that the 12-day timeline respects hours of work rules set out in the Alberta Employment Standards which states that workers require an eight-consecutive-hour break between shifts and that no work shift shall exceed 12 hours per shift. Essential services are allowed to work up to 16 hours per shift but must have an eight-consecutive-hour break as workers are entitled to at least one day of rest each week and an employer is required to monitor for and manage worker fatigue.
He also said that following all big snowfalls they talk every morning before the plows roll again and always do a debrief following, a meeting that’s now been codified into the policy. The document also commits the municipality to “experiment with new snow removal techniques and operations to trial more efficient methods and equipment.”
“We’re constantly having those conversations as it’s trying to find ways to improve,” Benot added.
“My street is always last”
Benoit’s RFD notes “a common comment that we hear from residents is that their neighbourhood is always last for snow removal.”
To mitigate, Benoit said the first zone that’s cleared will become the last zone in the next event, while the second zone becomes the first — the rotation continues from one event to the next and carries forward into the next season. Zone rotation will be for Priorities 3, 4, and lanes only, while emergency and collector roads are always cleared first.
He also noted that they’ll continue to flip back and forth between avenues and streets “to allow people places to park.”
