Snow routes put into effect in Regina

Snow routes are in effect in Regina after a dumping of snow Sunday evening and Monday morning.

The city received about 12 to 14 centimetres — five to 5 1/2 inches — of the white stuff during the storm. While that’s nowhere near the amount of snow some areas of the province received, it was enough for the city to get the snow-clearing equipment out and running overnight.

“This triggered the city to enter storm response mode where we work to keep the major roads drivable by plowing the snow and then also applying ice control to major intersections around the city,” Tyler Bien, the manager of roadways seasonal operation for the City of Regina, said during a media conference Monday morning.

Snow routes were put into effect Monday afternoon, which means there won’t be any parking allowed on the routes from Tuesday at 6 a.m. to Wednesday at 6 a.m. Blue signs with a white snowflake help identify which roads are considered snow routes.

More information can be found on the city’s website.

Bien said city officials weren’t caught off-guard by the snow.

“We prepare leading into winter just like every year. We make sure our equipment is ready for the winter storms (and) we make sure our shifts are in place to get 24-hour, seven-day-a-week coverage if needed,” Bien said.

“Leading up to this storm, there has been a lot of preparation happening. We do it every year and it wasn’t much out of the ordinary for us, but there was an increased level of awareness with the amount of snow that was forecasted to come.”

Monday also is election day for Regina. That caused a slight shift in how the city cleared roads.

“This city did make an adjustment to our winter response plan,” Bien said. “We focused over the Sunday night shift on the roads in front of the polling stations and the major roadways leading up to those polling stations.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Joseph Ho