Nicolle Hodges | [email protected]
鈥淓verybody hates snow removal,鈥� said director of Operations John Greathead, 鈥渟o all I鈥檓 looking to do is cut out inefficiencies.鈥�
Jasper Municipal Council believes the Snow Removal Parking Restrictions Pilot Project 鈥� set to launch this week 鈥� is the answer for quicker snow removal and cost saving.
Everything from lamposts to street signs and hydrants will be marked with a small strip of red or blue reflective tape. Drivers will then receive a notification by text or email, which residents can sign up for through the municipality鈥檚 website, indicating which coloured side of the street to park on while crews clean the other.
鈥淚f everyone is parked on the blue side, for instance, then we can clear the red side of the road instead of doing a little bit at a time,鈥� said Greathead.
The reason this strategy is superior to marking odd and even numbers is the way that some streets are designed.
鈥淚f crews are driving in a single direction, looking for the longest and most efficient path for the equipment to move, it switches back and forth between odd and even,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t would cause more of a hold-up than just colour-coding the entire street.鈥�
This strategy also means crews are no longer taking five working hours to individually place signs on sections of Jasper鈥檚 street network to give residents 24 hours notice for snow removal which, again, saves money and allocates time to other work.
Greathead believes crews will only have to alert residents of 鈥渞ed or blue days鈥� about five times a year and encourages residents to sign up for push notifications (text and email) through their website.
Have some feedback? Reach out directly to the Operations department by emailing [email protected].
