本周末爱城除雪，季节性停车禁令生效

原始发布日期： 2018-01-26 发布者：虫子

Seasonal parking ban this weekend as Edmonton works to clear roads

Fine for parking on designated bus routes now $100, plus towing

Traffic creeps up a hill coming out of the river valley Friday morning. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)

The City of Edmonton will implement a seasonal parking ban at midnight Saturday as crews work to clear bus routes of snow that fell overnight into Friday morning, creating havoc for morning commuters.

Vehicles parked in locations with "Seasonal Parking Ban" signs will be subject to tagging and towing.

The fine for parking on a bus route during a ban is now $100, plus the cost of towing. Last winter, tickets were $50 and towing was covered by the city.

City spokesperson Catherine Kuehne told CBC News the decision to increase the fine was based on what other municipalities in Canada charge.

The parking ban will remain in effect until the city declares it over.

Road clearing ongoing

Buckets of snow covered the city overnight and a snowfall warning remains in effect.

A total of 15 to 25 centimetres of snow fell overnight, according to Environment Canada. The weather warning spans from Lloydminster to Slave Lake.

Morning traffic slowed to a crawl as crews worked to clear roadways, which the city said began at 1 a.m.

Traffic troubles in Edmonton after snowfall0:16

"Crews have been working on this event since we've had snow starting," said Janet Tecklenborg, director of infrastructure operations.

Some roads were pre-treated with calcium chloride.

"This will be one of the opportunities to see how it does impact our snow removal in a big snow event," Tecklenborg said, noting that traction testing was being conducted on some of the treated areas.

She said Yellowhead Trail, Whitemud Drive and roads surrounding the river valley are high-priority areas. Segregated bike lanes are also a priority.

"Because the bike lanes going into the downtown core are arterial bike lanes, they are of a higher priority in some areas," Tecklenborg said, noting that some bike lanes might be cleared before the roads adjacent to them.

"A lot of the roads that the bike lanes are on are not main arterial roads."

More than 200 staff working to clear 11K of road

Kuehne said 211 workers were clearing roads Friday morning.

In total, 72 snowplows and 16 sanders were called into action. A live map showing where Alberta's snowplows are workingcan be found on the Alberta Transportation website.

Tecklenborg said crews in Edmonton have about 11,000 kilometres of road to cover — a distance she compared to the trek from Edmonton to Mexico and back.

We're on it! 211 people and 118 pieces of equipment are out clearing bike lanes, roads, and sidewalks this morning. Please ride/drive to conditions. #yegwx #yegtraffic
— @CityofEdmonton
"We work on arterial and collector routes first," Kuehne said in an email. "This includes bus routes, bus shelters and sidewalks. Our goal is keep Edmontonians moving."

And they were moving, but slowly.

Traffic was crawling on 23rd Avenue at Whitemud Creek Friday morning, with some vehicles struggling to climb the hill. Buses have been running about 10 to 15 minutes behind schedule, Edmonton Transit said.

Early morning traffic was slow-moving in Edmonton Friday morning. (Gary Cunliffe/CBC)

Edmonton police spokesperson Carolin Maran said there were 11 collisions between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. Two involved injuries, one was a hit and run and the other eight involved property damage.

"Motorists are reminded to slow down, drive for the road conditions and allow themselves extra time to reach their destination," Maran said.

Unless you're skiing to work, you're probably unhappy to see so much snow. We'd all rather be at home on a snow day, but since we're all on the same boat, or snowmobile, let's be patient, understanding, and safe while driving. #yeg #yegtraffic
— @edmontonpolice

Towing times delayed

Ryan Lamont, the manager of Edmonton's fleet operations for Alberta Motor Association, said they had received about 100 calls as of 3 p.m., about 30 per cent more than usual.

Waits times for a tow will take around four hours, due to the high number of calls and conditions outside. But the people in more high-risk situations will continue to be a priority, Lamont said.

"If you're at home or at work in a warm place, we will be getting to you within that four hours," he said.

AMA has restricted any tows that take trucks more than 50 km outside of the city; once the highways are clear, they will complete those tows.

With temperatures expected to drop next week, Lamont wants to remind people to plug in their block heaters.