ESTEVAN - Estevan city crews and contractors continued battling the snow throughout the Easter long weekend to ensure all streets were unplugged and residents could get out of their driveways and get to their destinations at any time.
Another snow dump that painted everything white again by Sunday morning added another 10-15 centimetres to the 30-50-centimetre total that was received from April 12-14, creating more work.
But as of Monday morning, the main mission has been accomplished and Estevan became passable again.
"We spent a large amount of time grading and using loaders cleaning some streets. The northwest area of the city was probably the heaviest, the worst, as the wind direction had blown many streets closed there. So we were faced with getting them open with loaders and bucketing the snow out. But they are all open now," said Norm Mack, roads and drainage manager with the City of Estevan's public works division.
With temperatures staying below 0 C at the end of last week, snow from the main arteries was loaded and hauled away. Due to warmer weather earlier and it warming up again now, the city's dumpsites are muddy and soft, and Mack said their hauling time is very limited as the dumpsites are becoming completely impassable.
He added that some of the roads are still rough, but at this point, they will let Mother Nature help them out with a lot of the remaining snow. And while snow removal efforts continue, the main focus is now shifting to drainage.
"Our main focus was to get all the roads passable and open again. We had many that were blocked off, and people couldn't get out of their driveways. Now all streets are open, mind you some are rough, and we are currently still blowing off some streets," Mack said.
"But we expect warm temperatures coming with melts this week. So we're going to let Mother Nature help us out and melt some of the snow."
He added that the warmer temperatures are not going to allow the blower to work properly as the snow will get wet and heavy, and will be plugging the equipment. Besides, with it being the middle of April, it doesn't make sense to spend more money than absolutely necessary.
"Our intention is not to spend a bunch of money on snow removal when it's going to melt here in the next week or so," Mack said.
So as the week goes on, bringing more sunshine, especially in the afternoons, the city crews will be switching their focus to water and drainage situations. Mack asked the public to assist with that where possible.
"I'd like to ask homeowners and residents, if you see a catch basin with snow on it or if you know where it is, please, help us out by exposing some of these catch basins. If you've got one near your house, near your back lane or near your street corner, help us out by making sure it may be open," Mack said.
He also thanked everyone involved for their help and co-operation last week.
"I just like to thank the citizens for helping out and the contractors and the city employees. Some of them didn't get time to spend with their family at all through Easter, but that's our job. And I'd like to thank them," Mack said.
