Regina winter maintenance crews on standby for first major snowfall: City

The City of Regina says its crews and equipment are standing by for the inevitable first major snowfall of the season.

And this year, you’ll be able to keep an eye on their progress.

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As part of it’s annual update on winter snow maintenance, the city announced it’s introducing an interactive map this winter, to show where clearing is happening and estimated timelines.

“Basically, our operators in the equipment will have access to the technology,” Chris Warren, the city’s director of roadways and transportation, told reporters Thursday. “When they clear a road, they will mark it off as completed, and that will upload and update to the website.

“Residents will be able to go onto the website and within – not real time, but within a small period of time – residents will be able to see when a road has been cleared.”

He added real-time tracking will be considered in the future.

The more than 130 employees and contractors who work on winter maintenance will once again follow the priority route system, as the city tries to balance the needs and wants of residents with the dollars that are available.

Warren said through the end of October, snow clearing has consumed around $10 million of the $11.9 million from the 2025 budget. He said the winter of 2024/25 saw nearly double the five-year average for snowfall, though the number of snow events days was roughly typical.

“Depending on what winter conditions we see over the next couple of months, we may come in at budget,” Warren said, “or, if we have a regular season, have two or three storms in November or December, we likely are going to see a deficit there.”

The city will have an interactive map this winter to keep residents updated on snow clearing operations. (Abby Zieverink/980 CJME)

For winter maintenance, all city roadways are divided into five categories.

The top priority, Category 1, includes hospital routes and the busiest streets such as Albert and Broad Streets, Victoria and Arcola Avenues, Ring Road, Lewvan Drive, and McCarthy and Rochdale Boulevards.

Category 2 is defined as major roads with lower traffic, along with transit routes and bike lanes.

Those two categories, along with streets on the perimeter, will be plowed during a snowfall.

After it ends, clearing will begin only if at least 5 cm (2 in.) fell, beginning with Category 1 roads to be done within 24 hours and Category 2 within 36 hours.

Crews will then proceed to Category 3, which includes certain high-traffic residential streets as well as commercial and industrial roads, followed by Category 4 which is all gravel roads.

Most residential roads fall within Category 5, which will not be done unless at least 15 cm (6 in.) falls within a single snowfall.

Warren said to do any more than this would require an increase in the budget. For example, a single round of removing plowed snow from all roads would cost $10 million.

And while the city does clear sidewalks adjacent to city property and parks, removing snow from all sidewalks would have a price tag of $4 million each time.

In the meantime, people are urged to do their part by observing parking bans when snow routes are declared, as well as when they receive notice that their street is to be cleared.

You can sign up for notifications, or download the Regina Sweep and Plow app.