What's new for snow and ice control in Edmonton

· The Pulse
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A new type of salt, greater transparency, and maximized use of labour are all pieces in the complex puzzle of snow and ice control, say two of the City of Edmonton's leaders on that front.

Mark Beare, the director of infrastructure operations for parks and roads services, and Valerie Dacyk, the general supervisor of the field operations group, spoke to Episode 282 of Speaking Municipally about how the city navigates winter weather in response to residents' expectations and the rising challenges of climate change.

"Winters are changing, and the city is changing," Beare said in response to those who wonder why we can't figure out something that happens every year. "What our winters look like in 2023, 2024, and beyond are different than the winters that a lot of people remember growing up."

Here's a closer look at some of the measures they discussed:

Stronger sodium

New for this year, the city has procured from its supplier, at no extra cost, a special salt that can stick to snow and ice at colder temperatures than conventional salt, Beare said. The souped-up sodium will be used as an alternative to chip or sand on some bridges and hills along the River Valley during extreme temperatures.

Will it work better? Maybe, Beare said. "(We're going to) get some feedback from the operators, find some measurements for it, and see if this is something that would be a benefit to use on a more regular basis and (for) broader applications across the city."

Dacyk added that the snow and ice removal teams can try out modest pilots without approval from up the ladder. The city has run much-discussed, larger pilots on sand recycling and calcium chloride, but neither resulted in permanent practices for snow and ice control, Dacyk said. Still, she and her colleagues keep abreast of other potential solutions by communicating with suppliers and other municipalities, as well as by attending trade shows.

A small Case-brand plow clears snow at night.

Unlike other municipalities, Edmonton has separate teams for clearing snow from roadways and active pathways. (Mack Male/Flickr)

Greater mapping

Another addition to the snow and ice control arsenal is a service-tracking map for active pathways that is similar to the one for roads. It's on the city's safe travels page, a catch-all for snow and ice control where citizens can sign up for text or email notifications about parking bans.

The city has a two-pronged approach to ground-level winter maintenance, with separate teams to tackle roadways and active pathways. "The City of Edmonton is structured uniquely in that regard," Beare said. "The cool thing about that is that they don't compete for resources."

Dacyk added that the approach aims to avoid creating a hierarchy between transportation via car and other means, such as walking or cycling. "(We do this) in order to prioritize both types of travellers at the same time, so our active pathways users can get prioritized as well as our roadways users," she said. "Nobody gets a higher level service than the other."

Smarter work

The lack of snow and ice until January during Edmonton's last winter season presented both a challenge and an opportunity, Beare said. Crews were on payroll with no winter weather to work on. While that required the city to be "reactive" in assigning alternate work, there's a concrete plan for employees to earn a living by providing other value this time around.

"One of the things that I'm really proud of the team for this year is the work that they've done in being proactive to be prepared for the impacts of climate change and changing winters," he said. "There is always going to be a requirement to do snow and ice control. We're going to get Snowmageddon storms, lots of rain, maybe freezing rain. But then we're going to have stretches where we're not going to have snow. It's important to keep people employed with meaningful, purposeful work and doing things that are important to keep our city running."

Snow much more

The Oct. 25 episode of Taproot's civic affairs podcast has much more on snow and ice control, such as the realignment of community sandboxes, the wisdom of naming a plow Amarsleet Snowhi, and what the service would do with a blank cheque. Listeners also get an update from Taproot's newsroom by managing editor Tim Querengesser. Find all the ways to listen and subscribe to Speaking Municipally, which comes out most Fridays, right here.