The City of Winnipeg said the upcoming warm-up in temperatures will enable crews to complete snow-clearing work, tackling ice ruts which some drivers blamed for contributing to crashes.
City officials said ice ruts in Winnipeg were caused by prolonged, extremely cold temperatures. They said the weather made it difficult for equipment to operate and scrape down ruts with it feeling like -40 or colder with the wind chill on some days.
On Jan. 9, temperatures are slated to reach a high of -8 C.
With the warmer weather coming, sanding will begin soon and then graders will hit the streets.
"It will allow us to be much more effective to remove those ridges on the major routes. The bond that is currently there with these low temperatures makes it very difficult to remove those ridges,” said Brad Sacher, director of the city’s public works department.
Some Winnipeg drivers said streets should have been cleared sooner.
"I just think if they got out sooner during a snow event, they might be able to prevent these frozen ruts on the road,” said Ken Dunsmore.
The city said it could not have predicted such a long cold spell that slowed clearing efforts, stressing this is a rare situation.
Motorist Heather Hooper doesn’t blame the cold. She said snow clearing was simply not done up to the standards Winnipeggers deserve.
“They've done much better jobs in the past and I think they need to do it over again,” said Hooper.
Since Dec. 28, Winnipeggers made more than 12,000 calls to 311 about snow-related issues.
The city’s policy on snow-clearing is made by council and is based on snowfall and temperatures. Mayor Sam Katz said the policy might need to be reviewed.
