Sanding trucks are working on residential streets and local stores are struggling to keep up with demand for ice melt products as two weeks of freezing rain combined with unseasonably warm weather has turned many of St. Albert's streets and sidewalks into skating rinks.
Since the beginning of 2012, the city has deployed its sanding trucks into residential areas to try to control ice build-up and lay down some traction for vehicles.
"This is probably one of the first times in a long time we've had such an extensive program," said public works director Glenn Tompolski. "In the last 10 years, we haven't sanded residential streets."
Arterial and collector roads still take priority after a new rainfall, but once those have been sanded, the trucks are directed to residential streets.
"The challenge is there's enough snow and ice on residential streets that it will be a bit of a challenge to control until we get an awful lot of warm weather," Tompolski said. "Four or five hours is just not enough to make an impact."
The city is also responsible for approximately 50 kilometres of sidewalks, which have also been sanded. Public works has even started laying down gravel chips in residential areas to help prevent slipping.
"It's a little coarser material to provide skid resistance. The rock seems to help a bit more than just straight sand," he said.
Residential rules
Homeowners are responsible for rectifying a dangerous condition within 48 hours of a weather event, whether it's snow or freezing rain, in order to keep sidewalks safe, said senior peace officer Garnet Melnyk. Individuals who do not clear their sidewalks can receive a $100 fine. So far in 2012, bylaw has not issued any fines.
"I'm surprised we haven't gotten more calls than we have," Melnyk said. "Most people realize it's raining and it's going to freeze. They have problems getting to their own cars."
In cases where someone has complained about a particular stretch of sidewalk that has not been cleared, Melnyk says a visit is usually enough to get the homeowner to take some action.
"We'll get a call on it, address it and they put some grit down or ice melt down."
But finding ice melt has turned into something of a sport for local residents trying to keep their driveways and sidewalks clear as local stores have not been able to keep up with demand. Mike Pascuzzo, general manager of Canadian Tire, said it's been impossible to keep his supplies of salt and ice melt stocked.
"If we got a hundred phone calls in a day, 95 per cent of them would be about ice melt. No one can supply it fast enough," Pascuzzo said.
Since the first rains on Dec. 29, Canadian Tire has gone through 3,400 bags of ice melt, some of it from its usual supplier and other shipments ordered from local distributors. Still, the store hasn't been able to keep up.
"Most of our normal stuff comes in direct, but we can't get it in here quick enough," Pascuzzo said.
Residents who can't find ice melt can access one of the city's five community sandboxes as well as the one at the recycling yard in Campbell Park, Tompolski said. Residents are free to help themselves, provided they bring their own containers. The sandboxes are located at the Alpine, Willoughby, Gatewood, Flagstone and Larose outdoor rinks.
"The only challenge with that is if it's sand, it leads to more tracking of sand for residents and businesses as well," Tompolski said.
Parents and children also might want to rethink their tobogganing plans until the city receives some more snow. Many of the most popular hills are extra slick, if not bare, which could pose a safety risk.
John Younie, the city's major planning and parks planning manager, says there is no formal position on how dangerous it is to sled, nor does it monitor conditions at the most popular hills, but people should keep safety in mind regardless.
"Certainly anytime you are sliding down a hill, it's a safety risk," Younie said.
