HUMBOLDT — City crews are now starting to plow streets in residental areas after a blizzard over the weekend.
"City crews are going to be working on clearing snow in residential areas immediately," said a statement from the city. "It would be greatly appreciated if residents could move vehicles parked on streets as soon as possible to allow for best results of snow removal."
When the snow falls unto Humboldt’s streets, the city focuses on the highways, downtown core and emergency routes first.
Those streets are the first priority in a plowing system that has four tiers.
Priority 1 streets are done during the night time. Plowing on those streets begins after the accumulation of five centimetres of dense snow. If the snow is light and fluffy enough to pack down well, then it’s not as large of a concern for the city.
The city has a grader at its disposal and contracts another grader. It also has a sidewalk plowing machine and a loader with a blade that clears drifts and other inconveniences.
Priority 2 streets are those that allow access to schools and businesses. Like Priority 1s, they are cleared with five centimetres of dense snow.
For both of the top two priorities, the goal is to have them cleared within two days after a snowfall.
Priority 3 streets, the major streets through residential areas, are cleared after 7.5 centimetres of dense snow. The goal is to complete them one business day after Priority 1s and 2s.
All other streets in town are cleared after 10 centimetres of dense snow, but are only cleared down to approximately five centimetres of packed snow on the streets.
As for sidewalks, the city focuses on clearing downtown first, highways and routes to schools second, and trails third. For the ones near city streets, the city aims to have granular material on the sidewalks within 48 hours of it refreezing.
Residential sidewalks aren’t plowed, nor is there a requirement to keep them clear.
Priority 1 streets are purple, Priority 2 are yellow, Priority 3 are green and roads dealt with by Saskatchewan Highways are blue.
