Last winter was an unusual one for climate and snow, and that was reflected in the Town's snow plowing and street maintenance. Many residents felt unsatisfied with the road maintenance which lead to many complaints, and the Town of Strathmore's Operations Manager Donna McCallum explained what caused the unfavorable conditions last winter.
Explaining that last year was hopefully just a one-off type of unusual winter, McCallum said several factors worked against the Town's maintenance crews.
"Strathmore had an icy, windy, and snowy winter with only a few very short chinooks. There were also capacity issues at the snow dump that are currently being resolved. The Town also experienced three freezing rain events," she said.
Our winter was also colder than usual, which McCallum explained created an entire new set of issues. From November 1 until the end of March there were only 59 days above 0°C, and only 46 of those nights had overnight temperatures above -10°C.
"This -10°C is important as it is the coldest temperature that pickle mix* activates which allows Operations to peel bonded snow and ice off of the roads. Any overnight temperatures below that threshold, it generally takes until late afternoon for the daytime temperatures to warm up to a temperature where the equipment is effective with peeling off the bonded snow and ice," she explained.
During the same November 1 to end of March time frame, 145/150 days experienced wind, which created black ice and made proper snow/ice removal more challenging. The amount of pickle mix used in 2022/23 more than doubled from 2021/22, as 22/23 saw 1516 tons used, and 21/22 was 699.
Because last winter was such an anomaly compared to previous years, McCallum believes no major changes need to be made to the snow-clearing policies, as a return to historically normal conditions should make road maintenance much more efficient. However, she did request including Aspen Creek Way, Aspen Creek Crescent, and the bottom end of Aspen Creek Circle from 106-163 into the snow clearing routes.
"Most of the neighbourhoods have one street that's done that allows an exit in the event of an emergency and also for firetrucks and emergency response to enter into the neighbourhood. So that's why we included that loop in Aspen because there was nothing in there that allows them access in there."
Should this unusual winter happen again, the Town would use the financial stabilization reserve to prepare. There would be money in the reserve every year, should council decide to adopt this practice.
*pickle mix is a blend of rocks, sand, and salt used to break down ice and melt snow
Sat, May 18, 6:00 PM
Part-time, Permanent, Healthcare