SASKATOON — City pf Saskatoon and contractor crews worked through Thursday night shaving off the top layer of snow ruts on all streets in Aspen Ridge, Briarwood, Eastview, North Park and Nutana.
On Friday, 12 teams of two graders were expected to finish neighbourhoods that weren’t completed Thursday night.
They wereexpected to move into and continue through the night in the neighbourhoods of Evergreen, Kelsey-Woodlawn, Kensington, Lakewood, Richmond Heights, River Heights and Stonebridge,
All residential streets in these neighbourhoods will have rut shaving. Grader operators will go around parked vehicles but the city encourages people to move them if there is off-street parking available.
As graders shave off the top layers of ruts the snow will be stored in the parking lane.
The city is thanking all residents for their patience and leaving space for their operators and equipment to safely do their work.
The grading began Thursday night as city crews and their contractors try to improve mobility on residential streets that have severe rutting.
Milder temperatures the past few days created deep ruts on some residential streets. The city is shifting its focus to shave down the deep ruts where people are getting stuck or there’s a risk of damage to vehicles.
Graders, on Thursday night, started shaving the top layers of ruts on residential streets with severe rutting and stored the snow in the parking lane. Snow removal may only occur in areas where there is no room to store the snow.
“To open up these streets quickly for residents, we need to move fast. Colder temperatures are coming soon which will make grading harder for us,” said Construction and Transportation general manager Terry Schmidt.
Grading will be done by neighbourhood starting on the streets where the ruts are at least 15 centimetres deep, making it challenging for smaller vehicles.
City crews will post No Parking signs in advance on streets with heavy on-street parking that is too narrow for their equipment, so residents can move their vehicles.
The work will occur day and night and the city hopes to complete all severely rutted streets within the next two weeks. This may be extended if there is a snow event that requires some staff to address priority street grading.
While grader operators attempt to keep driveways unobstructed, short snow ridges may be left behind. The location may be inspected for clearing if it completely blocks a vehicle from accessing the driveway.
For progress and more information, visit saskatoon.ca/snow daily.
