Masters acknowledges issues with Regina snow clearing

Although the City of Regina’s residential road snow plow started Tuesday, many residents are still struggling to drive around their neighbourhoods because there’s so much snow on the roads.

Mayor Sandra Masters said Thursday she doesn’t think the current snow removal plan is working.

“We’re into the new budget,” Masters told the Greg Morgan Morning Show. “We had a reserve of … $1.8 million beyond the regular snow clearing budget and that’s gone.”

In addition to replenishing the reserve, Masters says the plan needs to be reworked.

“We don’t have quite a livable city right now,” she said.

According to the mayor, the problems with the city’s snow removal plan are an operations issue.

“(Council’s) job is to bring the residents’ concerns into administration,” Masters said. “Administration’s job is to execute on the plan.”

Therefore, she believes the plan, which came into effect a couple of years ago, should be looked at because the last two years of snow removal were unacceptable.

As for a timeline, Masters said a change won’t be done in the next three months, adding the city’s main focus is clearing out everything it can.

“That can only be done with the equipment we have and the contractors that are available,” she said. “(Prior to) next year’s budget, this needs to be looked at to determine if there’s more money needed in the budget for residential road clearing.”

According to Masters, the city’s snow removal equipment is in relatively good condition and officials usually consider five-year averages when looking at how snow removal is executed.

However, since Regina received so much snow over the past two years, Masters believes there needs to be more adaptation and flexibility on how the city responds.