Snow removal has been a subject around Grande Prairie since the holidays. Despite the high amount of snowfall, we have received since New Year’s Day, which is more than 23 centimetres. Robert Carroll, Transportation and Parks Manager for the City of Grande Prairie says that all the snow has slowed things down for his staff.
“It’s probably a snow issue. With the amount of snow we’ve had over the past couple of weeks, that will take time for us to deal with,” he explains. “We always deal on a priority basis, so we do our priority one roads first. Once we get those to a passable state, we move on to our collector roads, transit routes, and residential areas.”
Additionally, Carroll says the extreme cold temperatures we’ve experienced over the past month or so have slowed things down production-wise and equipment-wise.Â
“The extreme cold affects our equipment, steel gets more brittle, the hydraulics are stiffer, and you run a higher risk of damaging equipment,” he adds.
The city currently has 68 people working in snow removal services. The city hopes to make some headway in making sure proper snow removal is completed around the city with the more mild temperatures in Grande Prairie expected this week.Â
“Realistically, we’re doing snow removal until April here,” Carroll says.