City to plow Winnipeg residential streets after complaints

Plowing of Winnipeg's residential streets is set to begin Thursday, following complaints by the public and a city councillor.

Cleaning will start Thursday morning at 7 a.m. "to improve overall roadway conditions," the city said in a news release.

About 300 pieces of equipment will be used for the operation, which is scheduled to end Saturday night. 

A residential parking ban will be in effect from Thursday at 7 a.m. until Saturday at 7 p.m.

The snow-clearing schedule is as follows:

• Nov. 24 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in zones D, G, H, P, S.
• Nov. 24 from 7 p.m. to Nov. 25 at 7 a.m. in zones E, F, J, K, L, N, R, T.
• Nov. 25 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in zones B, I, M, O, Q, U.
• Nov. 25 from 7 p.m. to Nov. 26 at 7 a.m. in zones A, V.
• Nov. 26 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in zone C.

Residents are advised to check their snow zone letter as approximately 18,000 addresses have been shifted to another letter this season.

Vehicles parked in violation of the ban could face a $200 ticket ($150 if paid early) and may be towed to a nearby street that is not scheduled to be plowed or has already been cleared.

Those parked in violation will receive tickets in the mail, rather than on the windshield of their vehicle. Anyone who believes their vehicle may have been towed is asked to contact 311 for help locating it.

The announcement about the plow operation comes in the wake of complaints about the condition of residential streets, many of which are sloppy with soft mashed-potato-like snow due to mild weather. Normally the snow would be packed down and frozen.

The messy conditions this year prompted Cindy Gilroy, councillor for the Daniel McIntyre ward, to say the city needs to reconsider its snow-clearing strategy, which leaves residential streets as the lowest priority.

Many people in her ward rely on cycling or walking to get around and the roads in some places make that extremely difficult, she said. People with mobility issues can find it nearly impossible.

"Right now we're seeing a lot of people actually getting stuck because of how we prioritize," Gilroy said on Tuesday.

Ken Allen, spokesperson for the City of Winnipeg public works department, said in an email earlier in the week that there were no plans yet to plow side roads as "the majority of residential streets have been found to be passable."

Mia Douchant, who sold her car a couple of years back and now cycles as her main mode of transportation, rejected Allen's determination, saying she has to push her bike down her street until she can get to a plowed road and start biking.

"It's not fine," she said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Allen told CBC News that city crews have been monitoring conditions on residential streets since the first snowfall on Nov. 10-11 "and addressing any reported concerns to keep them passable."

"It was anticipated that the snow that had accumulated on residential streets would become compacted and reach a levelled condition on the roadway," he said.

'Less than favourable'

After significant snowfalls, crews tackle snow clearing based on a priority system, beginning with Priority 1 (regional streets and major routes), then moving to Priority 2 (bus routes and collector streets).

They only move to Priority 3 (residential) areas when there's snowfall of 10 centimetres or more, if drifting snow has made roads impassable, or if there are deep ruts.

The decision to pull out the plows this week was made after another inspection on Tuesday, Allen said.

"Unfavourable weather conditions with continuously high winds along with additional accumulations of dry snow prevented the snow from compacting as expected, and resulted in less than favourable driving and walking conditions on the Priority 3 network."