City has road maintenance plan in place

With winter quickly setting into southern Saskatchewan, Moose Jaw motorists have no doubt already noticed road conditions have changed as well.
Ryan Johnson, city engineer, said the city plows local roads on a priority system. First of all, after any snowfall such as the one on Wednesday, crews check the outlying corners of the city, as these areas are prone to snow drifting and therefore get plowed immediately when necessary.
Next, crews move onto the priority one roads, which include such major streets as Main Street, Manitoba Street and Thatcher Drive. All these roads get plowed within three days of a snowfall of at least five centimetres.
Johnson said the priority two roads also get plowed after the same intensity of storm as do the primary streets, but crews have four to five days to complete these roads, which include Caribou Street and Coteau Street.
The majority of Moose Jaw roads (approximately 150 kilometres worth) are considered priority three and only receive wintertime attention if the combination of traffic and weather creates more than 10 cm of rutting on the snow-covered lanes.
Johnson said within five days of a storm crews also carve driving paths through back alleys for automated garbage collection.
Aside from snow removal, the city also attends to local icy road conditions. During a rainfall or other event that might cause slippery conditions, Johnson said a city employee is generally monitoring the situation and preparing sanding equipment to hit the streets before most residents even wake up.
Major roads and intersections receive attention as quickly as possible and steep hills are automatically sanded right away.
Johnson said the city has a $132,500 sanding budget for this year and a $251,000 snow removal budget. If weather conditions require the engineering department to go over budget, which resets Jan. 1, there is a reserve available.
For 2008, Johnson said there is still about $40,000 in the sanding budget and $48,000 in the snow removal budget.
If, over the winter, residents believe they have roads that require city attention, Johnson said those people could always call his department at 694-4448.

Carter Haydu can be reached at 691-1265.