Links To Pending Snow Policy Revisions
Nobody wants a repeat of last winter’s road conditions, so Council and Transportation Services continue to work toward cost effective policy changes that will improve city response times after major snow storms. We have already purchased more equipment that will allow us to remove windrows faster and more plow trucks to service residential streets.
I’ve had a number of inquiries about the specifics of the proposed changes to the city’s Snow and Ice Control Policy. For those who wish to delve into all the details, the reports were released early and are available for download via the several links below.
The proposed new Snow and Ice Control Policy builds on the recommendations of the peer review and proposes increased service for residential streets after normal snowfalls, as well as new guidance for how to deal with ‘severe snowfalls’ and ‘snow emergencies.’
There are some recommendations about limiting parking to speed up snow removal – some of these the Transportation Department appears to be moving ahead with like seasonal elimination of parking along bus routes. I expect there will be discussion about whether this or a snow route ban around the snowfalls would be more appropriate. I am receiving a lot of concerns about the signs already going up.
There was also significant discussion about both citizens and the city’s obligations to clean sidewalks within 48 hours after a snowfall – this report speaks to that.
There are two other reports: one about the design of newer neigbourhoods and the extent to which they are more costly and difficult to serve; the other is about the capacity of our snow storage sites.
I’m happy to receive your feedback here or by email, or citizens can come to speak at the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee meeting September 6th at 9:30 am at City Hall where these reports will be debated.
I’ll provide another post after the debates.
Don;
My first comment is to jump at the chance to speak a bit about the neighbourhoods on what was farmland beyond Henday, near the new shopping area, also on what was farmland. One of the neighbourhoods is Langdale, so you know where I mean. These neighbourhoods, first are the result of the wanton destruction by the city of Edmonton of very valuable farmland and wild areas. Edmonton’s sprawl is not heeding the danger to the future health of this area by destroying to much farmland, and continuing this every year to help build roads and new neighbourhoods. The only reason for this is economic, because it is not environmentally sound in any way, now or in the future. A totally new approach must be taken, and quickly, to stop this extreme destruction, that most of the new residents probably do not even realize occurred. They may not see farmland as very important, but, it is, and we have some of the best farmland in the world, and are turing it into residential and business neighbourhoods, and road beds. The roads being built do not economize at all in space or materials, thus using much more of all than is needed. So, among the problems are huge tracts of weeds around and along the freeway roads.
When I have read the winter road clearing information thoroughly I will send a reply, probably by Friday PM. thanks for thinking of my concern about the winter road problems. I do appreciate that.
With respect,
Janet E. Smith
Mr. Iveson;
Sorry, I forgot to mention my second biggest peeve about the new neighbourhoods, after the environmental disaster that they are, and that is that the neighbourhoods themselves are divided by class structure. There are cheaper houses all in a group by the roads, more expensive houses all in a group a little farther back, and huge, ridiculously luxurious houses with 3 and 4 garages that hog the ravine views and access. This is totally against the traditional ways in Edmonton of mixing economic levels somewhat, so no group loses touch with what life is for the others; so the lower groups are not left with a permanent lack of beauty from the ravines, and the rich are not monopolizing these and other benefits as if they are better than the others, which they are not! Often, the most kind and humane people are found in low income housing, and they certainly deserve access to walks along the tops of ravines as used to be in the policies of the City of Edmonton. The fact that this policy was overturned by City Council is sad for the conscience of Edmonton as a City. You must know that the gap between the rich and the middle and poor people in Canada is widening, and this kind of policy where the city shows such preference to the wealthy fosters that problem, making life for many who elected you much more difficult, as we all must endure the resulting swaggers and confidence in stopping average people from simply working toward better life. Instead we all must endure the admonitions that we could just be like them if we tried (which is not the goal of most), and then we could see the nice ravines, while they pay lower wages to prevent this. This bias to the unpleasant members of wealthy folks, builds a city that will contain a lot of resentment and true helplessness. It is not a surprise to me that the murder rate in Edmonton is much higher than other cities of a similar size. We used to be a kind city, and now kindness takes a big back seat to private money.
‘Some good news here.
I live near a bus route. Snow plowing the adjacent alleys before the bus routes are cleared is a must so the people affected, seasonal ban or not, will be able to navigate to their rear drives or garages. It was impossible at many times last year!
I am looking forward to reading your comments after today’s discussion. I will begin by saying that my knowledge of yegcc’s plans is more or less limited to CBC radio coverage, and is by no means exhaustive.
That being said, what I don’t understand is how Edmonton appears to be reinventing the wheel (on the millionth topic)–it’s like we are unable to recognize that plenty of cities in this vast, wintery country of ours are able to provide adequate snow removal within reasonable timelines…yet figuring out a solution here seems impossible. How can it be that cities with frequent major snowfalls, that are far older than ours, with streets far more narrow than ours, with far less off-street parking in core area’s the us are able to sort it out??
I am so frustrated by the constant moaning of the urban population that *gasp* lives might be a little inconvenienced BECAUSE SOMEONE WANTS TO MAKE THEIR HOUSE MORE ACCESSIBLE. Really, it’s pretty awesome, actually.
My only requests are that it happen significantly sooner than it did last winter, that emergency vehicles have a chance to actually access our streets and/or alleys should the need arise, and that people get their doggone vehicles off the road to let it happen. It’s not rocket science, people.
Well said by journal writer. Portion of blog
It comes down to this. Collector bus routes have to be cleared of snow in a safe and timely fashion. They aren’t private parking lots. They’re public thoroughfares. When they back up, the entire city snarls.
We don’t actually have a divine right to park in front of our houses. Private driveways are for parking. Garages are for parking. Apartment building parking lots are for parking. If your garage is too full of junk to hold a vehicle, if your family owns four cars and a boat, that’s not the city’s problem. If you’re handicapped, you can apply for a special parking permit. If you’re able-bodied, you might have to park a block away on a side street….!!!! It’s time Edmonton council grew a pair and did whats right for the city!!! Make this bylaw !!!! It’s 4 months a year, winter is 7 months long in this city. Make the streets safer in winter !!!!!
.: Hello Don. As a member of your riding, please know that I support the proposed parking ban on all bus routes following a snow storm. I would like to see this increased to include collector routes and arterial roads as well.
I read Bill Stephenson’s letter in today’s Edmonton Journal (11 Sept 2011) and it really touched a nerve with me. He notes that several Ontario cities prohibit on-street parking on city streets (with some exceptions) from Nov or Dec until 31 March, from 12:00-07:00 each day. No one complains in those cities, because the roadways are plowed quickly and efficiently. He notes, “All residential streets are plowed to bare pavement within hours of a snowstorm in Ontario. Yes, hours, not days or weeks.” What is so frustrating is that for many of our residential streets, it isn’t hours, days, weeks, or even months – it is never done. Having grown up in Winnipeg, I became used to the Ontario experience. Having lived in Edmonton for over 30 years, my frustration starts every November, as nothing ever changes here.
Stephenson notes that in the city he’s most familiar with, the policy is to have arterial and collector roads plowed to bare pavement within four hours of a storm and during the storm; collector and transit routes within six hours, and residential and commercial roads within 12 hours after the end of the storm. This is achieved 80% of the time. The secret is to prohibit on-street parking between midnight and 6am during winter months. Vehicles violating this are tagged and towed.
Why can’t we have the same here? I live close to 23rd Avenue. Whenever there is a snowstorm, it usually takes 3 days to a week to see 23rd Ave cleared. This is an arterial road. Why does it take so long to be cleared? I live off 22nd Ave near Saddelback Road. 22nd Ave is rarely plowed. Last winter, cars parked there for months without moving. When 22nd Ave was plowed, these cars were buried. It was difficult at the best of times to maneuver around these vehicles before or after plowing.
Please do not let a small minority of residents stop you and your colleagues from making the right decision. Edmonton lags behind other major Canadian cities in this area. We are most likely dead last in efficiency. Please work toward changing our status. Please pass the overnight parking ban on bus routes, and then begin the process to extend the enforcement to residential streets as well.
Thank you.
I’m sure the majority of you in favor of the new ban do not live directly on a bus route. Sure there is no law that you have a right to park in front of your house but imagine when you can’t and you must drag all your groceries 4 blocks to your own house. We have no accessible parking behind our house and 4 months of us as well as our senior visitors to our home walking 4 blocks on icy sidewalks to visit is an extreme inconvience and a deterrent for our ability to sell our home in the future. I am SURE there is another solution that can be looked into such as only banning parking on 1 side of the street and plow snow to the one side OR having a ban of parking on streets AROUND heavy snowfall. Is it REALLY necessary for me to park 4 blocks away on a day in november when the roads are clear and no heavy snow in sight? Lets be considerate of the people that ACTUALLY LIVE on these routes of proposed ban and ask them how they feel instead of the random edmontonians that feel that a few days of bad snow removal is a reason to inconvience entire communities.
I’m sure the majority of you in favor of the new ban do not live directly on a bus route. Sure there is no law that you have a right to park in front of your house but imagine when you can’t and you must drag all your groceries 4 blocks to your own house. We have no accessible parking behind our house and 4 months of us as well as our senior visitors to our home walking 4 blocks on icy sidewalks to visit is an extreme inconvience and a deterrent for our ability to sell our home in the future. I am SURE there is another solution that can be looked into such as only banning parking on 1 side of the street and plow snow to the one side OR having a ban of parking on streets AROUND heavy snowfall. Is it REALLY necessary for me to park 4 blocks away on a day in november when the roads are clear and no heavy snow in sight? Lets be considerate of the people that ACTUALLY LIVE on these routes of proposed ban and ask them how they feel instead of the random edmontonians that feel that a few days of bad snow removal is a reason to inconvience entire communities. And i doubt that 1 or 2 vehicles “plowed under” snow on your street limits emergency vehicle access. Those vehicles could be towed by already inplace bylaw without implementing a 4 month parking ban.