Residential parking ban begins Friday

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This article was published 07/12/2016 (2977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The city’s entire fleet of nearly 200 plows, trucks and graders is hitting the streets in an effort to clean up after the first snowstorm of the season.

“At this time of year, for our first event, things have been going really good,” said Jim Berezowsky, the city’s manager of snow cleaning, at a news conference Wednesday.

To help crews clear streets, the residential parking ban takes effect Friday. The ban is between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on residential streets designated for plowing. Cars parked on those streets risk being towed.

The residential street ban is different than the overnight parking ban, which went into effect last week. The overnight ban prevents parking between 2 a.m. to 7 a.m., but as a result of Tuesday’s winter storm, it was extended two hours from midnight to 7 a.m. This week’s storm delivered about 30 centimetres of snow, while high winds caused major drifting in open areas and on some city streets. The storm also upended day-to-day activities throughout southern Manitoba; many schools and highways were closed.

Berezowsky said the first priority is clearing city’s major and regional traffic routes, along with salting and sanding. He added work is on schedule.

There were no estimates Wednesday on how much the snow clearing will cost, but the final bill for a similar storm last December was more than $5 million. The city is well into its plowing operations of major routes, which typically take 36 hours to complete. It takes another 36 hours to clear residential streets, or about five full days if sidewalks and back lanes are included.

The province announced the Trans-Canada Highway between Headingley and the Saskatchewan border reopened Wednesday afternoon. Parts of the highway had been closed since Tuesday morning.

Highway 75 from the Perimeter Highway to the U.S. border also reopened to traffic Wednesday.

Larry Halayko of Manitoba Infrastructure said the RCMP decided it was safe to open up the roads, but he cautioned visibility was still reduced on some highways.

Canada Post suspended mail delivery Tuesday in urban and rural areas of southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg, Selkirk, Portage la Prairie, Brandon and Dauphin.

The postal service said in a notice on its website delivery would resume when it was safe for mail carriers to go out.

Recycling and garbage collection was also getting back on schedule, the city stated on its website.

Residents who normally put their bins out Tuesday were advised to call 311 if they weren’t emptied by 4 p.m. Wednesday to report a missed collection day. Residents with Wednesday as their collection day were advised bins might not be emptied until today.

The city said garbage collection should be back on schedule by today.

There are several ways to find out when your street is scheduled for clearing — call 311, check the city’s website or use the city’s Know Your Zone app.

On Friday, city plows will hit residential streets in snow zones A, F, I, M, P, Q, T, and U. Those routes are to be cleared by 7 p.m.

— staff

City's plow zones