Regina crews focusing on icy roads after storm

City of Regina crews were up bright and early Tuesday morning dealing with Old Man Winter.

Tyler Bien, the city’s manager of sweeping and alleys, said crews were out at around 3 a.m., to apply salt and sand to roadways and plow where needed.

Bien said the city got five centimetres of snow and, in the early stages, the snow started melting when it hit the ground. That left a layer of ice on the road that then was covered by more snow.

As a result, trucks applied ice control to Category 1, 2 and 3 streets and plowed where snow was building up.

“With the milder temperatures, our focus is on the ice-control aspect of keeping the roads safe for the residents,” Bien said during a meeting conference at City Hall. “We’re out applying ice control, (and) we’re cycling those roads and trying to make it as safe as possible for everybody.”

Due to the low amount of snow that fell, the city didn’t have to declare snow routes, especially after some of the five centimetres melted.

“We are not calling a systematic plow,” Bien said. “We are focusing on our ice control aspect, getting that sand/salt on the road (and) increasing that melting that’s happening as seen on Albert Street and a lot of those mains.

“A lot of that snow has melted just from the application of the ice control and the cars travelling on it.”

Tyler Bien, the City of Regina’s manager of sweeping and alleys. (Roman Hayter/980 CJME)

Bien didn’t know how many trucks had been sent out, but he did say the city was prepared for the storm in terms of its staff and equipment.

“We had everybody available to us to get out,” he said. “All of our pieces of equipment that were transitioned (from summer mode) are out on the road and providing ice control.

“We do have a small complement of our contractors also deployed, applying ice control around the city.”

Bien encouraged drivers to take their time on the roads and plan their routes to make sure they get where they’re going. As for sidewalks and driveways, he said residents could go to any of the 19 sandboxes around the city and spread it around where it’s icy.

The “sudden onset” of winter also put the kibosh on street sweeping operations in the city, which Bien said was about half done before the snow hit.

“With the weather, obviously we can’t street sweep and pick up leaves,” he said. “It’s all under snow or frozen to the ground. So right now, (the program) is on pause.

“We are going to re-evaluate (Wednesday) to see the forecast and make a decision, but that will be communicated out when a decision is made.”

Environment Canada says there’s a 60 per cent chance of flurries Tuesday night in Regina, but the weather service suggested the southeastern part of the province should be prepared for more snow to fly.

On Tuesday afternoon, Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning for the southeast, saying 10 to 20 centimetres are expected in that area Wednesday.

“Areas closest to the American border will see the highest amounts with 24-hour total snowfall accumulations close to 20 cm,” the weather service said.

As for the winter as a whole, Environment Canada senior climatologist David Phillips told Saskatchewan Afternoon’s Justin Blackwell that the province will experience an El Niño situation.

“Typically, when you live in Saskatchewan and you have an El Niño — especially a strong one, an intense one and a large one — winters tend to be a little bit tamer,” said Phillips, who noted El Niños typically result in less snow falling.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Roman Hayter