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Roadways Manager ready to tackle snow removal

Dec 1, 2016 | 5:37 AM

Roadways Manager Brent Kennedy said Prince Albert is ready for winter.

Kennedy has 14 employees dedicated to snow removal who are ready to jump into action at the first sign of a storm. The city maintains a sizable fleet of equipment for that purpose, including six sanding trucks, four front-end loaders, two graders and two truck-loading snow-blowers. Two more graders are hired by the city on a contract basis, and more employees can be requisitioned from other departments.

P.A. roads are cleared and sanded according to a priority system, Kennedy explained. The top priorities are major arterial and emergency routes, followed by collector roads, bus routes and school zones. Next to be cleared are central business districts, then residential streets and alleys.

“You can guarantee Second Ave. is the first street that the sanders will go up,” Kennedy said. “Some go out to Fifteenth, and then we work on Ninth Ave. because it’s a hospital route.”

“When all that is done, then we’ll go back and work on the hills,” he said.

If another snowfall occurs before work is complete, crews start again with the top-priority routes. City standards require work on the highest-priority routes be completed 24 hours after a snowfall.

This year, Kennedy said the sanding trucks will each be assigned a specific neighbourhood to cover after the main routes have been sanded, which he hopes will increase efficiency.

Parking bans will only be implemented on the top-priority routes after a snowfall of more than four inches, Kennedy said. When a temporary parking ban is necessary on a lower-priority route, the city will post signs at least 12 hours in advance.

According to Kennedy, the most common complaints his department receives are about windrows created by graders. Kennedy said the city does not remove these rows of snow unless they are piled more than 12 inches high in front of a driveway.

“We don’t move windrows in front of houses,” Kennedy said. “If you want on-street parking, that’s your responsibility.”

Sidewalks are also the responsibility of the property owners, Kennedy said. Property owners must clear them within 48 hours of a snowfall to avoid being billed for a city work-order.

Kennedy said he has seen very few accidents during his 34 years as a city employee, despite the considerable stress placed on equipment operators.

“Everyone thinks it’s a nice, cushy job,” he said. “[But] you’ve got to be on your toes.”

Kennedy said budget issues have never impacted snow removal in P.A. during his time as Roadways Manager.

“Not once during a winter have I been told to stop sanding or stop moving snow,” he said.

 

Taylor.MacPherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews