A pilot program run last winter revealed expanding the level of snow clearing on Okotoks residential roads would require a nearly $1-million budget increase.
Jamie Greenshields, Town of Okotoks transportation manager, said the pilot program was run in three neighbourhoods – Suntree, Drake Landing and Cimarron, and included plowing and removing 10 centimetres of compacted snow from residential, or Priority 3, streets.
The pilot program was undertaken in response to council’s inquiry in 2018 as to what the budget would be to increase snow and ice control on residential roads.
Currently, Priority 1 roads – main arteries like Milligan Drive and 32 Street – are cleared within 24 hours, and Priority 2 roads – feeder streets like Cimarron Drive and Woodhaven Drive – are cleared within 48 hours, he said.
“Priority 3, those are the ones that really get limited snow and ice control measures applied to them,” said Greenshields.
There is some sanding applied, as well flat-blading when the build up becomes too much and affects rideability. He said that response is consistent with how many southern Alberta municipalities handle their residential zones.
Because there are sidewalks adjacent to the road and a number of driveways, he said it wouldn’t be possible to simply plow residential roads. They would require complete snow removal efforts in order to avoid causing more issues for residents, he said.
Based on the pilot program results, it would cost about $850,000 to complete the work town-wide, one time, with labourers, dump trucks, loaders and the Town grader.
“The cost for our crew was in the range of $750 to $1,000 per hour, and those rates were based on industry standards,” said Greenshields.
He said the crews could work about one kilometre of road in 10 hours, and the Town’s Priority 3 streets work out to about 80km in total, meaning the minimum cost to remove all snow from residential roads would be in the neighbourhood of $800,000. It would also take months to clear all roads, especially when additional snowfall occurs.
Those costs do not take into account any potential for damage caused by crews working residential streets, he said. Scraping roads in white-out conditions can sometimes make it difficult to navigate, and there is potential to damage curbs, gutters or sidewalks with plow or grader blades, as well as utility infrastructure like manholes, valves and hydrants, or “street furniture” items such as utility boxes, transformers, streetlight standards and community mailboxes.
Landscaping features that encroach into road right-of-ways, such as boulders, could also be damaged if they can’t be seen under snow cover, he said.
He said replacement costs would vary, but a 1.5-metre section of concrete sidewalk would run about $500 by current tender rates, and items like catch basins would cost significantly more.
“We are happy to report, however, that with our pilot we did go back and inspect this past summer and we came out of there all-clear,” said Greenshields. “So kudos to the crews there for not incurring any damage in there.”
Overall he said the pilot program was a good exercise and validated cost estimates provided to council in 2018 for the cost to clear snow from Priority 3 streets.
“It is an expensive undertaking, snow removal, especially in residential areas,” said Greenshields.
He said it was also worth noting residents were co-operative during the pilot program, removing vehicles from streets when snow removal signage was placed about two days ahead of the work.
However, he said the conclusion made by the transportation team was that moving toward full service for Priority 3 roads would be too costly to consider at this time, challenging to administer, and would have potentially negative environmental impacts with additional equipment running daily for nearly three months to clear all P3 roads.
