Snow removal service level isn’t enough for the ‘city we have’: Knack

Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack says snow clearing is not up to his standard, and is calling for more enforcement. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson reports.

Edmonton crews are meeting city standards for snow removal, but those standards are too low, says Mayor Andrew Knack.

“I don’t think anyone is satisfied with how it’s gone,” Knack told media at an unrelated press conference.

“We’ve been meeting all those service levels. But at the end of the day, what most people are saying is that the current service level isn’t enough. It isn’t enough for the city we have.”

The city currently allocates a base budget of $67 million for snow removal for October to April.

Read more: What does it cost to clear Edmonton snow?

But as city crews chip away at the second day of residential road clearing, many Edmontonians have taken to social media to complain about slushy messes on roads and at the end of driveways.

The city has closed 311 requests for snow removal complaints until residential clearing is done in the next two weeks. That deadline will get knocked back should the city see another major snowfall.

Knack also said it’s been “incredibly infuriating” to see vehicles that don’t move off the side of the road despite clear parking ban requirements.

“Every winter, it’s time for people to get their cars off the street when a neighbourhood blading cycle is announced. There’s really no excuse,” he said.

What’s your ideal snow removal budget?

Edmonton’s roadway network is vast, and growing – meaning the city simply hasn’t kept the budget on par with the amount of winter maintenance actually required in the city, Knack says.

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“On top of that, we’ve removed tools that allowed crews to do more effective work, things like not using calcium chloride,” he added.

He says the city needs to have honest conversations with residents about what funding for an appropriate snow clearing service might actually look like.

To help with that very idea, ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette spent his Christmas vacation programming a new interactive online tool dedicated to understanding snow removal.

One of the more salient takeaways, to Paquette, is that Edmonton is woefully underfunding its winter budget given the expansion of the city.

“I personally have never been happy with the snow and ice control budget. I always thought it should be a little bit more robust … this is a consequence of austerity budgets tightening our belts,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

The webpage is full of data comparing Edmonton to other major cities.

To emulate Montreal’s gold standard for snow removal, for example, Edmonton would have to bump its budget to $585 million, just for snow removal.

“We would have to go up by eight or nine times what we currently pay to have the Montreal experience,” Paquette said.

That’s largely in part because Montreal has 4,100 km of roadway compared to Edmonton’s 12,000 km.

Another section of the page offers a menu of snow clearing strategies and calculates the subsequent tax increase residents would see.

Paquette’s end goal is for Edmontonians to build and submit their ideal budget.

“If I can get an overwhelming amount of people saying, ‘Spend more on the snow and ice control budget,’ I can advocate for that,” he said.

Knack says outlier snowfall – which Edmonton saw in December – will be a factor city council considers when setting the snow and ice control budget for next winter.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Jeremy Thompson