Despite being prioritized for snow and ice removal, roads around Medicine Hat Regional Hospital remain covered in layers of snow and ice days after the city's last snowfall.--NEWS PHOTO KENDALL KING
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Snow and ice removal efforts continue on roads across the city, but buildup remains thick in some areas, prompting concern from Hatters.
Over the past week, several Hatters have contacted the News regarding road conditions described as terrible for both motorists and pedestrians, especially roads near to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
City officials acknowledge additional snow and ice removal is required in some areas, but assure residents removal efforts are ongoing.
“We’re always assessing what the conditions are out there … on a daily basis,” city operations superintendent Trevor Funk told the News on Thursday. “We have supervisors, crew chiefs and operators that are always communicating our road conditions and are always doing road checks.”
The city oversees snow and ice removal from all roads in, and a select few surrounding, Medicine Hat. A fleet of approximately 10 sanders (some equipped with snow plows), four graters and four sidewalk snow removal machines are utilized for snow removal, with contractors available to assist in the case of a severe snowfall or freezing rain storm.
Roads are cleared in order of priority, with emergency routes, arterial roadways, hills and bridges and highways taking priority. These roadways are classified as Category 1 priorities, meaning the city aims to make possible safe travel on these roads within 24 hours of snowfall or freezing rain.
Category 2 roads, which include collector roadways, school zones, transit bus routes and those in the downtown are the next to be cleared within an intended timeframe of 24 hours.
Category 3 roads -residential streets, lanes and alleys – are the last slated for snow and ice removal, within no prescribed timeframe.
While Funk says the city is usually able to achieve the goals outlined within its priority removal categories, city crews sometimes need to readdress certain roads, like those surrounding MHRH, in the days and weeks following snowfall or freezing rain.
“The roads near the hospital are Category 1 roads, and those are always being assessed for what’s needed there, whether it’s plowing or traction control,” said Funk. “But the thing with the hospital area is that there’s so much parking on both sides, there’s no place to store the snow. So, we are planning a night shift crew for next week and the hospital area is the first area that we’re going to be removing snow.”
Funk says the scale of snow and ice which needs to be removed, especially when there’s buildup, can also cause delays in the removal process.
“It’s a pretty big operation,” Funk said of upcoming overnight removal plans. “We usually have two graters, have a snowblower on a loader and five to seven big tandem trucks that are cycling through, so it’s pretty disruptive to traffic flow. And it’s a much safer operation to do – for operators and for the public – when it’s done either early morning or at night.”
In the meantime, Funks says crews are working around the clock to remove snow and ice from roadways, sidewalks and trails, and improve the overall safety of Hatters as they move throughout the city.
