Region's road crews plow Wednesday, prepare for melt Thursday
Conditions 'typical' for the season despite storm, transportation manager says
Winter crews were back on the road Wednesday morning as the region continues to feel the effects of a winter storm.
Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo are responsible for clearing their own snow, but the Region of Waterloo looks after all regional roads in and around the townships.
Transportation manager Emil Marion said crews were out in trucks and graders on Tuesday, and dealt with everything from snow and ice pellets to freezing rain.
He said it can be a challenge to salt and clear the roads when there is a mix of precipitation.
"When you have so much water concentration in ice pellets or in the freezing rain, it just dilutes the product, the chemical more," Marion explained. "Which just means in order to stop it from sticking to the roads so we can plow it, we have to add a bit more salt."
Environment Canada is calling for more snow on Wednesday, but temperatures are expected to climb above freezing on Thursday.
Marion said road crews are already preparing for any runoff from melting snow and ice.
"We have to make sure that the snow is pushed back against the curb or so that any drainage can get to the catch basins," he said.
"And then even still there are some areas that we may have to go out and if there's some flooding happening, we know the basins are plugged so we just have to make a hole to get to the basins."
Despite the storm, Marion said the conditions have been "typical" for winter and regional road crews are well prepared.