REGINA - The City of Regina is once again in response mode after a dumping of snow from a springtime winter storm that blasted through the province Wednesday.
Manager of Roadways and Seasonal Operations Tyler Bien reported that the snowstorm started in the early hours and was expected to continue overnight and into Thursday with 10 to 20 cm of snow expected and wind gusts of 60 km an hour.
Bien told reporters at City Hall that right now the city is in storm mode with crews focusing on “our high speed high-volume roads” as well as emergency routes.
“So currently in storm mode, we work 24 hours a day seven days a week until we go into the cleanup afterwards,” said Bien. “We’re fully staffed up and ready for this snow to come and we are more or less dealing with it as it comes right now.”
They are applying ice control and performing any plowing as is needed. He said ice control was their main focus at intersections this morning, because even as the snow was melting it was also freezing at the same time. Graders are also out plowing the perimeter roads and roads around open areas affected by the blowing snow.
As for how much this is going to cost the City and go over budget, Bien said it was hard to tell right now.
“Right now we are focused on responding to weather conditions,” said Bien. “We will always do what we need to do to keep roads safe.”
As for the cleanup, Bien said they are monitoring the situation, noting a lot of the snow has already melted.
When they go through the rest of the day and night they will monitor how much is actually accumulating and come up with a plan at the end of the storm, he said.
As for the risk of flooding, Bien said throughout the spring they had been opening up storm sewers and providing those drainage needs.
“We got lucky with the warmer weather, we got to clear a lot of those storm drains earlier,” said Bien. “If there is any flooding that does take place we will be out to clear those storm drains or get the water flowing.”
Their pothole patching and street sweeping is on pause for the moment, and their crews who usually do that have switched to the storm response,
Bien said they had not yet started transitioning their equipment over from the winter response, saying they “always try and stay prepared for these late season snowstorms.”
They do hold back some equipment back “just in case something like this does happen, because unfortunately it usually does happen… we stay ready and available for whatever needs we need to.”
