Blades on the Street proves impactful in pilot year of clearing snow rather than plowing it

Last winter, the Town of Whitecourt snow removal crews used a new system called the Blades on the Street System (BOS) as a pilot project to see how it would go on priority four residential routes. On June 20, 2022, the Policies and Priorities Committee implemented the program for a test run through the 2022/2023 winter season, with a review forthcoming following the season’s wrap-up.

At a recent Policies and Priorities meeting, Council was provided with an update on how the program went. The Blades on the Street System works how it sounds; grader blades remain on the pavement. Through the winter season, grader operators plowed from curb to curb to the centre of the street, and removal crews followed, picking up the snow right away and removing it, dumping it at the nearest snow storage site.

Unlike previous years, the snow was not pushed up on the sidewalks in most residential areas and wasn’t left to accumulate. With no snow pushed up on sidewalks, there wasn’t any winter sanding done, which gets messy in the spring. A few common public areas had snow left behind due to the location, including the east side of 47 Street between Flats Road and Kreiner Crescent.

The BOS Process was test run to see if it would provide better service, reduce equipment time and costs in the field and lower the calls from residents complaining about snow removal. Council heard from Kamruz Zaman, Director of Infrastructure Services, on how year one went.

“This new system has been working very well for our community, and one thing we can point out is the call log of complaints. We have received less complaints this year due to the operations,” said Zaman. Each year, a log keeps track of calls from residents specific to snow removal operations. Through the 2022/2023 winter months, there were 84 calls logged from residents. In the year previous, there were 380 calls logged, a significant difference.

“Every year, in the past, we used to plow snow on the sidewalk, and we had to go back and clear those sidewalks in the spring for the sand on the boulevard. We used to receive so many complaints on when we were sending our sweeper to come down and sweep the lawn because their grass would be getting longer, and they couldn’t mow it,” said Zaman.

He said the sweeping had become a challenge for crews but that the change to the BOS system had made a massive difference in how things were handled in the spring. “We did not have to go to any residential areas for the sidewalk or lawn sweeping.”

Even with the change in snow removal processes, Zaman said they wanted to keep the current policy in case a snowy winter requires them to use the old method of pushing snow onto the sidewalks. “If the Town could not keep up with the snow plowing or removal, we can still push the snow onto the sidewalk, and then the residents would be responsible for clearing their sidewalks. Then, based on our policy, we follow the switch of the street, where even number years go to the even side of the street and odd number years go to the odd-numbered side of the street.”

The BOS System affects priority four residential routes. Snow clearing on priority 1-3 routes happens before priority four. If heavy snowfall kept crews working on routes 1-3, they would have less time to focus on clearing priority four routes. Leaving the policy as written allows them to use the best method for the situation.

Councillor Paul Chauvet said he was pleased with the report about the BOS System. “I’m happy it worked out. We didn’t have the snowfall that we have had on the fire year rolling average, so we will see what it does under more stress.” He said that seeing less machinery breaking down because “they’re not pushing ice cubes” and the fewer working days needed to clear the community after a snowfall was great to hear.

Mayor Tom Pickard said he appreciated how much the BOS System improved sightlines for residents, particularly in the Park Drive area. “I think what this report does not reflect is the increased safety for our residents with those improved sightlines. Even if there were to be a heavier snowfall and increased costs, I believe this made it much safer for our residents. I am really pleased.”

Other comments from Council in the meeting included positive feedback from residents whose children take school buses, who didn’t have to deal with snowbanks when getting on or off the bus, and about the lack of mini lakes on the road from the spring melt.

The report detailed that there was a reduction in tag and tow through municipal enforcement, more sidewalks were maintained for residents, the spring melt was easier to deal with thanks to no ice in the gutters from packed snow, catch basins remained open and didn’t need as much steaming, community-wide snow clearing dropped from fourteen days to ten, there was less damage to boulevards and infrastructure, and the complete elimination of windrows at residential driveway entrances.

The Town will be purchasing a second electronic message board sign to help get the message of snow-clearing activities out to residents. The Policies and Priorities Committee voted to keep the BOS program going and keep the policy unchanged as a backup.