‘It creates some expectations’: Why Saskatoon won’t release a public snow removal schedule

A snow plow is pictured in Saskatoon in this file photo.

Saskatoon won’t publish a snow removal schedule because crews can’t always follow it, city council learned during Wednesday’s meeting.

“It creates some expectations that sometimes we can’t meet because of changing schedules,” Terry Schmidt, the city’s general manager of transportation, told councillors.

He said unexpected weather and “equipment issues” can disrupt the snow removal process and make it hard to stick to a schedule.

“It becomes a little difficult to manage because once the schedule’s out there, [residents] tend to lock into that schedule,” Schmidt said.

His remarks were in response to a question from Coun. Bev Dubois about the city’s snow removal progress.

Dubois said she’s been “getting quite a few emails” about snow not being cleared around schools.

“Is there a schedule that you could share with council, or you can put it on the website?” Dubois asked.

“We haven’t been sharing that schedule because it can be quite fluid,” Schmidt responded.

Public information about snow removal is only shared during major snowfalls or when parking restrictions are required to facilitate snow clearing.

“If there are areas that require parking restrictions, we do go out at least 48 hours in advance and put parking restriction signs in place so that the residents have time to remove their vehicles,” Schmidt said.

Saskatoon doesn’t typically grade snow and ice from residential streets, but conditions triggered city-wide clearing in December.

Schmidt said snow has been cleared on all streets classified as priority one, which includes Circle Drive and Idylwyld Drive.

He said priority two and three streets are approximately 70 per cent complete, and should to be finished by mid-February — so long as there are no future major snowfalls or equipment issues.

“We have three crews working on that nightly,” Schmidt told council.