Changes to our Snow and Ice Removal Policy
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The Town of Sylvan Lake's Snow and Ice Removal Policy dictates how we manage the removal of snow from roadways.
This past spring, we asked Sylvan Lakers about their level of satisfaction with current snow removal practices; we’ve reviewed the results, and considered the options. When doing so, we factored in the cost effects of any potential changes; we reviewed historical snow fall data, average number of times we ploughed which routes, identified our snow storage needs, and compared services along C and D routes.
With all of this in mind, the Town has made changes to our Snow and Ice Removal Policy, most notable is that we've lowered the trigger to go in and plough residential roads!
“As a Council, we strive continually to improve the manner in which we serve the public. Through engaged citizenship, we can have informed, meaningful decisions. This update to our snow and ice removal services, is a direct result of the feedback we received from Sylvan Lakers this past spring; thank you to those who took the time to participate in process.” – Mayor Sean McIntyre, Town of Sylvan Lake
- A routes, arterial roads, remain our priority, followed by B routes, which are roads that connect arterials to residential routes.
- D routes are now considered C routes (all residential roads);
- We’ve updated C route triggers, targets, and standards. Looking back on the past six years, on average, C routes are ploughed 1.6 times a year, whereas D routes were ploughed 1 time a year;
- Under our new policy, and given average snowfall, we anticipate ploughing the updated C routes twice a year.
The resource impacts of this slight increase in service, are minimal; ploughing more often results in less snow to move or haul.
We’ll be rolling out more communication regarding our Snow and Ice Removal Policy soon; follow us on Facebook @TownofSylvanLake or visit www.sylvanlake.ca/Snow
We’ll email you our snow removal schedules
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