On a day when numerous fire trucks became stuck in residential streets, the city announced plans to change its snow removal tactic, blading right down to the concrete.
According to officials, plows are scheduled to be out from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m. daily, clearing neighbourhoods that have not been touched since Edmonton's last big snowfall.
"With the warm weather, plowing residential roads down to bare pavement will keep Edmonton moving this winter," said city manager Simon Farbrother.
The new approach comes after five fire trucks became trapped in residential roads at the same time on Sunday, putting them out of commission for hours.
"Access to these residential areas where there has been no snow removal or clearing - this becomes a real problem," said Cpt. Ed Westervelt. "It's hampering our ability to get into a lot of areas. We are going to have to start going in by foot to areas and leaving the trucks."
The city assures it's moving as fast as it can, hoping to have all neighbourhoods cleared in two weeks. In the interim, officials say they have resources on standby to help emergency crews who get stuck.
"If they get into an issue, they contact us immediately and we deploy people to help them out," said Farbrother.
To help with efficient snow removal, residents are asked to move their vehicles off the road and to avoid shoveling onto the streets.
The city also warns plowing down to the pavement will leave larger windrows. Only snow piled up in front of driveways will be carted away.
With Files from Kevin Armstrong
