More snow is on the way, but Calgary's residential streets will need to wait

Calgary drivers had to navigateslippery roads throughout Calgarythis morning and according to Environment Canada, that could be in the cards for much of this week with more snow expected.

City crews are working to keep main roads in driving condition, but removing snow from residential streets isn't in the cards, a spokesperson said.

"What we don't do is remove snow from residential side streets,"saidChris McGeachy, spokesperson for the city's roads department.

"It's a fiscal responsibility thing. It would cost somewhere in the area of $13 [million] to $15 million to remove snow from all of our residential side streets."

Why Calgary will be waiting a while for snow clearing on already burdened residential streets

3 years ago

Duration 1:05

The city says it would have to spend up to $15 million extra to clear residential side streets that still have ruts from December's large dump of snow even though Calgary is getting more snow this week.

Under the city's seven-day snowplan, roads see prioritiesbased on theirtraffic volume. Those with the highest volume, such as Crowchild Trail and Glenmore Trail, are cleared first before crews then turn their attention to lower priority routes.

"Our crews have been working through the night and we'll continue working today,"McGeachy said."Right now, our focus is on high-volume roads. We're plowing and applying material to those high-volume roads."

McGeachy said the city expected to see somewhere around 15 centimetresof snow accumulation by the end of Wednesday.

David Zaleschuk with Stampede Messenger and Express saidsignificant snowfall poses big challenges to the business.

"I mean, we drive in it all day long and every day of the year and other people not so much. It can be more nerve-racking [than] for a regular person,"Zaleschuk said.

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Fifty-eight crashes took place between 8 p.m. on Tuesday and 10 a.m. Wednesday, seven of which included injuries, police said.

Environment Canada is calling for up to another 15 centimetres of snowstarting Friday through Sunday.