‘There were definitely challenges’: City says it did its best in snowstorm plow

The City of Regina’s complement of snow clearing and mitigation equipment had already been on the road for more than a day by the time the snow stopped falling in the city on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday afternoon, Chris Warren, the city’s director of roadways and transportation, said that crews had been working all day and night to keep drivers safe and roads accessible.

Some in the city questioned the speed and quality of the plowing on major roads through the snowstorm, but Warren said the crews did their best.

“Certainly, the city did receive 10 cm of snow and experienced those high winds, so there were definitely challenges in being able to get to all the different corners of the city at once,” he said.

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Warren explained the high winds that came with the snow caused some problems for crews.

“One of the things that we experienced over the last 36 hours was that we could be out clearing a road and within a couple of hours, with those winds, it could look like we weren’t there to begin with,” he said.

This appeared to be a particular problem in the city’s northwest. The joint-use Plainsview School and St. Nicholas School were closed Wednesday because the roads to get there were nearly impassable. That neighbourhood is on the edge of the city and is wide open to the elements, like snow and wind, along with the roads to get there.

“That location was cycled continuously throughout the evening and overnight last night, knowing that those locations are susceptible to drifting and blowing snow,” Warren said.

Warren said crews also needed to attend to other areas of the city.

As with other snowfalls, he said the city will debrief on what happened in this situation and see if there’s anything to learn from it.

On Wednesday morning, when the snow stopped, crews left their storm response and began their systematic plow of Category 1, 2 and 3 roads which was expected to take 48 hours.

As of Wednesday afternoon, even more snow was forecast to arrive in Regina on the weekend. Warren said as the crews finish their plowing from this past storm, they’ll also be planning and preparing for the next one.