Regina responding to ruts on rough residential roads

The City of Regina plans to spend the next two weeks shaving down ice ruts on its residential streets and alleys.

The recent freeze-thaw conditions resulted in ruts on many of the city’s streets and in alleys, so crews will be shaving down the rough surfaces and deep ruts during daytime hours.

Tyler Bien, the city’s manager of roadway seasonal operations, said city and contractor crews will be doing the work daily between 7 a.m., and 5 p.m.

Bien said the ice-shaving program is built into the city’s snow removal budget, but it usually doesn’t happen at this time of year.

“Normally, we don’t experience the severe increase in temperature in February and it’s usually not followed by a drastic drop in temperature that causes the real hard freezing of those ruts,” Bien told reporters during a conference call.

“However, in spring, we normally go around and we will do any ice shaving that is needed on any roads that have experienced significant rutting.

“It’s usually closer to the spring months and it usually doesn’t drop as cold as it has this time. It has presented us with a little bit more of a problem with the ruts. However, that’s why we brought the ice-shaving program in to address those concerns.”

The shaving started on Saturday and is expected to take two weeks, depending on the weather. The city noted in a media release that if more snow falls, crews will be reassigned to make sure major roads are drivable.

According to the city:

• Crews will ice shave the driving lanes of residential roads. Vehicles parked on the street do not need to be moved, however off-street parking is encouraged.
• Crews will ice shave alleys throughout the city where garbage and recycling are collected.
• Ice left behind by the equipment will be pushed against existing snow ridges or along the curb.

Bien noted crews are removing snow ridges on some residential streets that have dealt with an abnormal amount of snow as well as ridges that affect travel lanes on residential roads. However, most of those windrows will stay for the duration of the winter.

“Unless the ridge on the residential road severely impacts the travel of the road or there is a sightline concern or anything like that, the ridges will stay on the residential roads until they melt,” Bien said.