City of Winnipeg services closed or impacted by blizzard

The blizzard that is forecast to hit Winnipeg on Wednesday has prompted the city to close some services, and warn residents that the services which are still running could be impacted.

Mayor Brian Bowman detailed the closures Tuesday afternoon.

“The city has made the decision to proactively close a number of our facilities,” he said. “This will be important to keep people off the streets for the benefit of essential and emergency services.”

Among the impacted services, garbage and waste collection is suspended on Wednesday, and those whose collection is normally Wednesday are being told to not put their carts out. The city has also closed all three 4R depots and the Brady Road Resource management facility on Wednesday, and they will be closed until future notice.

All libraries in Winnipeg will be closed and all programs will be suspended until further notice, though online services will remain available. All indoor pools, fitness centres and recreation centres owned by the city will be closed Wednesday, also until further notice. Impacted customers may receive a refund on their account.

The 311 customer service counters at 510 Main Street and 170 Goulet Street are also closed, though the 311 line itself remains open.

“Once we have a better sense of the impacts of the pending storm, we will make decisions about services in the coming days,” said Jay Shaw, the assistant manager of the city’s emergency operations centre.

Finally, the city is anticipating Winnipeg Transit to be impacted by the storm. While buses are still running, the city warns not all regularly scheduled buses may run. Transit users are advised to check updated schedules online before they go.

Bowman urged Winnipeggers to check on each other during the storm.

“Please contact friends, family, those that may just need to know that they're not alone during a storm and see if you can provide assistance to your friends, family and neighbours,” he said.

ZOO TO BE CLOSED FOR NEXT FEW DAYS

As many city services are set to be impacted, Winnipeggers will also be unable to visit the animals during the blizzard.

The Assiniboine Park and Zoo said it has made the decision to close down for the next two days.

“The Nature Playground and fenced gardens in the Park will also remain closed to allow our grounds team to focus snow-clearing effort on maintaining staff access to essential Park and Zoo operations. All scheduled programs and third-party events/meetings will also be cancelled or postponed,” the zoo said.