For the very first-time last winter, the City of Saskatoon deployed the Roadways Emergency Response Plan for Extreme Snow Events. Roadways Manager Tracy Danielson says because it was the first time, successes and challenges within the plan were being identified as it was being carried out.

City Administration has identified several ways to improve the response, should an event like it happen again this winter. Administration will be presenting a report on the 9-week plan at Tuesday’s meeting with City Council’s Standing Policy Committee on Transportation.

The report suggests five categories where improvement is needed such as procurement, parking restrictions, snow grading capacity, initiation of plan phases, and sidewalk clearing.

For example, when it comes to improving the ability to grade snow, the report states that an additional 10 graders, beyond the 32 used for a typical snow event, are required to meet set timelines.

However, one of the plan’s successes included completing city-wide snow grading in eight days, two days before the projected completion date. Unless otherwise directed at the meeting, Administration will undertake steps to bring all five lessons to fruition.