City says Red Deer residents impressed by changes to snow and ice control program

City Council reviews pilot snow and ice control program

This past winter, The City of Red Deer piloted changes to the snow and ice control program that focused on restoring mobility sooner and providing safe, accessible and well-maintained transportation infrastructure for all.

Major changes included 24/7 operations for residential street clearing, increased traction control throughout the city, additional sidewalk, trail and staircase clearing, and decreased timelines for bus stop clearing. On Monday City Council reviewed the 2023-24 snow and ice control operational report which outlined the pilot’s successes and challenges, as well as the learnings and opportunities for improvement.

“Overall, our more responsive approach to snow and ice control resulted in better mobility for motorists and pedestrians, and a greater quality of winter road maintenance,” said Greg Sikora, Manager of Parks and Public Works. “Of the many successes of the pilot program, the community was most pleased with the noticeable improvement in traction control and our ability to clear Green Routes within six days, thanks to moving Green Route plowing to 24/7 operations.”

Improvements to pedestrian, cyclist and motorist transportation networks include:

Increased presence and effectiveness of pre-treating, plowing, and sanding on major arterials, hills and bridges, with two and four-hour traction control equipment cycles,
5 locations of staircase clearing,
43 km of neighbourhood asphalt trails cleared after each snowfall,
Inclusion of second side sidewalks (9 km)
635 transit stop clearing: 61 high priority cleared in 1 day, 153 medium priority cleared within 3 days, an additional 421 supplemental stops cleared within 7 days.

Throughout the pilot program, The City connected with the community to get feedback on operations including regular check-ins with the Engaged Citizens Group, two broad public surveys, a transit rider survey and the Citizen Satisfaction Survey.

Overall, citizens felt arterial roadways, hills and bridges were adequately maintained, and were satisfied with the Green Route plowing operation, with little concern raised about nighttime operations and 24/7 parking bans. Residents reported a prominent level of satisfaction with the additional mobility of trails, sidewalks and staircases, and there was improved public awareness of snow clearing programs.

Additionally, a noticeable improvement in adherence to the parking ban resulted in less than 100 tickets being issued this year. Complaint call volumes and service requests for traction control also trended downward this year.

“While we’ve received positive feedback from the community, we know there is always room for improvement. Our greatest challenges to the snow and ice control program remains the variability of weather, pivoting operations from a plow based program to a traction control focus and choosing the right time to execute Green and Grey Route plows,” said Manager Sikora.

In June 2023, Council adopted the revised Integrated and Accessible Transportation Policy (IAATP), which focuses on providing the community with mobility services based on four guiding principles: safe, accessible, well-maintained and accountable.

City Council will consider the future level of service at the May 27 City Council meeting.

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Published on January 23, 2025

Duane Rolheiser

It’s a telling detail about the person who leads Red Deer City Council. Always putting the city’s needs ahead of his own, Mayor Ken Johnston has announced his intentions within days of the opening of Nominations for October’s municipal elections,

After 12 years on council, Mayor Ken Johnston has decided against running for a second term as Mayor this fall. Johnson shared his decision in front of colleagues and supporters in a touching announcement on Wednesday.

At 71 years old, Johnston remains vibrant, passionate and healthy. He says that’s exactly why he and his wife Carolyn have decided now is the right time to start their next stage of life together.

Mayor Johnston listed a number of highlights and achievements he can look back on, including his help advocating for the redevelopment of Red Deer Regional Hospital, the growth of Red Deer Polytechnic, and positive moves in Economic Development.

All these lead of a feeling of ease about the decision to step away, though affordable housing and a permanent shelter for the homeless remain pressing concerns.

With about 8 months remaining in his term, Mayor Johnston is planning to push hard to move the needle on these housing issues.

“We’re looking forward to some more work and we’ll be going to the community shortly about it. So I still have optimism that maybe before the term is out we can have an announcement.”

This is the second major political announcement in Central Alberta in the last number of days. Earlier this week Red Deer Mountain View MP Earl Dreeshen announced he won’t be running in the next federal election.

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Council ends reduced fine option for early ticket payment, school and playground zones start at 7 AM

Published on January 15, 2025

Duane Rolheiser

City Council approves first reading of updated Traffic Bylaw and General Penalty Bylaw

Red Deer City Council completed first reading of updated Traffic Bylaw (3707/2025) and General Penalties Bylaw (3036/A-2025) that will provide clarity and consistency in application of the bylaws as well as eliminate challenges in enforcement.

Key updates to the bylaws include:

Ticket Pre-Payment:
- Removing the option to pay a parking ticket early to receive a reduced fee from the General Penalty Bylaw and adding it to the Traffic Bylaw.

School and Playground Zone Start Times:
- Through investigating requests from schools to have school and playground zones start at 7 a.m., rather than 8 a.m., Administration determined that almost all school and playground zones in the city have students on the street prior to 7:30 a.m. To be consistent across the city, the start time is being moved to 7 a.m. providing an added measure of safety for all students.

Salt on Sidewalks:
- Removing the provision prohibiting the use of salt on sidewalks as this provision was rarely reported and it is difficult and costly to enforce.

Permits:
- More structure was added to the bylaw to clearly articulate conditions and requirements of Use of Streets Permits, as well as Excavation Permits and Alignment Permits.
- Lastly, fees for closures impacting on-street and off-street stalls have been adjusted to reflect the actual revenue in each parking zone rather than the flat fee.

Penalties:
- Penalties have been reviewed and updated.
- During the last bylaw adoption, the penalty associated with vehicles being towed due to snow or street sweeping operations was inadvertently missed. This penalty has been added back in at a slightly higher amount due to an increase in the cost to tow a vehicle through The City’s contractor. This prevents the costs associated with towing vehicles during these operations from being subsidized by the tax base.

“These updates streamline the bylaws to create clarity for residents and administration,” said Erin Stuart, Inspections and Licensing Manager with The City. “They also help to eliminate regulations that are challenging to enforce and bring penalties in line with other City Bylaws.”

Second reading of both bylaws is anticipated for January 27, 2025.