City of Saskatoon Continues on Storm Clean-up

City crews worked throughout the night on Wednesday, spreading salt and sand on the Saskatoon’s highest traffic streets after heavy winds and a mix of rain, snow and freezing temperatures descended on the city. Eighteen sanders and nine plows were deployed to address drifting.

Director of Roadways, Fleet and Support Goran Saric, says city crews will continue spreading sand and salt today with 20 sanders focusing on the highest traffic streets, bridge decks and intersections that are at higher risk for slippery conditions while continuing to address locations that have experienced drifting. Several traffic signals were affected Wednesday night from the strong winds, crews continue to make repairs on them Thursday.

Saric says conditions on city streets on Thursday morning are in pretty good shape, and are typical winter driving conditions. Conditions are expected to improve throughout the day with warming temperatures, and salting. Saric is reminding drivers to keep a safe distance when you see blue and amber flashing lights to let road equipment complete their work. Saric says residential streets aren’t apart of the typical level of service when Saskatoon experiences a snow event like the one on Wednesday night, but due to previous snow clearing since November residential neighborhoods likely look better than in a typical season.

Snow removal planned for last night along priority streets wasn’t completed due to high winds and a need to focus on salting and sanding. It will be rescheduled for early in the week of January 17th. Director of Emergency Management Operations, Pamela Goulden-McLeod says there has been no impact on garbage or recycling pick-up due to the storm.

When safe to do so, you can report icy locations to the Customer Care Centre at 306-975-2476 or customercare@saskatoon.ca.

Saskatoon Light & Power

There were a few power outages in Saskatoon Light and Power neighbourhoods Wednesday night.

Director of Saskatoon Light & Power Trevor Bell says power outages began at 8:30 p.m., including the Greystone Heights area, where wind and moisture caused a mechanical failure.

Outages in the King George and Riversdale neighbourhoods were the result of trees bending in the wind and touching overhead powerlines. Another outage was in the Nutana area, where Bell says a tree broke and took down three spans of overhead lines. Bell says all power was restored Thursday morning by 4 a.m. and there are no reported outages at this time.

Bell recommends customers of either Saskatoon Light and Power check their Service Alerts posted to saskatoon.ca and YXEServiceAlert on Twitter. Once identified, the cause of the outage is noted along with the anticipated time for power restoration. SaskPower customer’s can check saskpower.com or visit @SaskPower on twitter.

Saskatoon Transit

Fixed route and Access Transit service is operating as regularly scheduled. Customers may experience delays due to winter driving conditions. Transit service alerts, real-time bus locations, and arrivals are available on third party apps like Transit or Google Maps Transit on desktop.

Parks & Urban Forestry

A combination of freezing rain, snow, and strong winds may have resulted in tree branch failure. To report storm damaged trees please call Urban Forestry at 306-975-2890 (Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.) or the 24-hour Customer Service Centre at 306-975-2476 (after hours and weekends). For more information, visit saskatoon.ca/treeinspections