Regina puts snow routes in effect; advisories in place for highways in southwest

The snowstorm that smacked Saskatchewan on Sunday and the one that’s following it are having an impact on the province’s roads.

As the afternoon progressed Monday, the list of roads on which travel wasn’t recommended on the Highway Hotline was increasing.

By 5 p.m., travel wasn’t recommended on the Regina Bypass, on the Trans-Canada Highway east to Balgonie, on the Trans-Canada from Belle Plaine west to Swift Current, and on Highway 11 from Regina to Bethune.

In Regina, the city put snow routes into effect. That means there’s no on-street parking along those routes for a 24-hour period starting Tuesday at 6 a.m.

“This parking ban allows crews to plow the roads from curb to curb, improving traffic flow along the busy roadways,” the city said in a media release. “As well, it will help ensure roads are passable for emergency response vehicles.”

Snow routes are identified by blue signs with a white snowflake. Vehicles parked on the snow route during the temporary parking ban get a ticket.

In reality, City of Regina crews can’t catch a break when it comes to snow removal.

Category 1 streets like Ring Road and Lewvan Drive were only just complete before another five to 10 centimetres of snow is expected to fall.

“City crews are also preparing for the next round of snowfall coming,” Tyler Bien, the city’s manager of seasonal operations, said during a news conference Monday afternoon.

“It is forecasted that there will be five to 10 centimetres of snow falling Monday night and overnight. This is coupled with 60-kilometre-per-hour wind gusts, so we will remain in storm mode until the completion of that snowfall.

“The city has declared snow routes to be in effect at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning. If you are planning on travelling, please leave early, plan your route to stay on priority roads and if you come upon any snowplowing machinery, please leave 3 1/2 car lengths. Give them space for the work they have to do on the roads.”

Bien added that while residents don’t always see the work being done, crews are working to keep city streets safe.

“Our plows and sand trucks are out seven days a week 24 hours a day,” he said. “Those Category 1 streets were plowed and had ice control applied to them. We are preparing for another round of snow and when the storm stops, we start the systematic plow starting with Category 1 streets once again. It will take 48 hours to complete Category 1 to 3 streets.”

Snow has certainly had an impact not just on city streets but to the budget as well. Before this winter season, the city was already overbudget, but Bien maintains that won’t impact what gets done for the rest of the year.

“The City of Regina winter budget is $8.63 million. We have an additional winter reserve for years that have unseasonably higher snowfalls,” he said.

“We will always continue to provide the service we need to provide to the residents; we will always plow a street and apply ice control as needed. From January to the beginning of this winter, we were at an expenditure of $10.9 million. We didn’t anticipate an early snowstorm like this but we will are dealing with it and continue to work to make the streets safe.”

Outside of the Queen City, travel wasn’t recommended on a number of roads, including highways 4, 19, 32, 42, 43 and 58. Winter driving conditions existed on most other roads in the province.

Environment Canada issued snowfall warnings for some areas, including Saskatoon, Humboldt, Swift Current, Shaunavon, Maple Creek, Kindersley and Rosetown.

As well, blowing snow advisories were in place for areas including Regina, Moose Jaw, Lumsden, Fort Qu’Appelle and Indian Head.

“The heavier stuff is just starting to reach up to the Trans-Canada Highway, so conditions are starting to deteriorate,” said Environment Canada meteorologist Terri Lang. “We expect that snow to continue most of the afternoon through the evening.

“As well, the winds are going to pick up, mostly from the east and southeast, so we’re expecting blowing snow along with the snow falling.”

Lang said the snow should clear up in the overnight hours in the southern half of the province.

After the snow stops, things will get worse in another way.

“Later on in the week, it’s going to get unseasonably cold,” Lang said, “so folks should be prepared for that as well.”