Ready for Winter! SNOW and ICE CLEARING INFO
With the first snowfall of the winter season underway, The City of Calgary is ready to jump into action to help commuters stay safe and keep moving.
Calgary is a winter city, and adapting our service delivery for colder temperatures, snow, and ice is critical to keeping our communities vibrant, safe, and welcoming for residents, businesses, and tourists in the months ahead.
The City’s Snow and Ice Control (SNIC) program plan is organized months before the winter season begins 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.
As part of the Snow and Ice Control Policy, crews are committed to clearing Calgary’s busiest major roads within 18 hours after snowfall ends. We are also prioritizing pedestrian clearing operations by maintaining 24-hour response time on prioritized pathways, sidewalks bordering City-owned property, and up to 1,300 high-use transit stops and other pedestrian routes. We are happy to hear that additional pathway kilometers have been added to the clearing route to be maintained by City crews this season.
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.
Motorists 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 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.
For more information on current snow status, winter driving tips, snow route parking ban procedures the Snow Angel adopt-a-sidewalk snow clearing program, and more, vist the City of Calgary Snow and Ice Clearning Page.