Priority Snow Plan

Snow Update – Thursday, Nov. 21 – 7 a.m.

It is currently snowing in Calgary, with more snowfall expected over the next few days. We’re reminding Calgarians to be prepared for winter conditions on their commutes: bundle up, and leave plenty of time to arrive at your destination.

Before and during snowfall our crews work around the clock, preparing equipment and materials, applying anti-icing agents to potential trouble spots like bridge decks and focusing on maintaining safe conditions on Calgary’s busiest routes per The City’s priority snow plan.

When snowfall ends citywide, our snow clock will be activated, and crews will work to complete The City’s snow priority list. We focus on high volume roadways for the first 18 hours after snowfall. Additional hands crews will be focused on some pedestrian infrastructure, such as pedestrian overpasses, sidewalks next to City-owned properties and high priority bus pads.

Snow and Ice Clearing Progress
Route types	Progress (%)
Major Routes 0 - 36hrs

It’s snowing, and we are out maintaining our major roadways

How The City’s priority-based snow plan works

The priority snow plan is The City's schedule for clearing snow from public spaces. It's approved by City Council and comes into effect once a snowfall ends city-wide. The plan sets out which roads, sidewalks, bikeways, and pathways our crews will clear, to what extent, and on which day within the seven-day plan. See below for the day-by-day priorities.

During snowfall, before the seven-day plan is activated, crews are preparing equipment and materials and working on major routes. The work on majors includes plowing snow in through lanes and applying anti-icing material to Calgary’s highest-traffic routes.

Snow plan priorities

Priority snow plan infographic — Click to enlarge image

Day 1

(0 - 18 hours after snowfall end)

Crews spend the first 18 hours plowing and clearing snow on Calgary’s busiest routes, which include:

Calgary’s busiest major roadways. Roads with over 20,000 vehicle trips per day, such as Crowchild Trail and Macleod Trail. (Please note: Deerfoot Trail and Stoney Trail are maintained by the Province)
Downtown roads and cycle tracks (walking and wheeling lanes)

Additionally, within 24 hours of snowfall end, The City also clears:

Prioritized pathways
Sidewalks bordering City-owned properties
Pedestrian bridges, vehicle bridges, LRT platforms and other public properties with high-volume foot traffic
Approximately 1,300 high-use bus stops

For a map of priority routes, visit the Snow and Ice Control Priority Routes map.

Day 2

(18 - 36 hours after snowfall end)

Crews spend the next 18 hours of our priority plan focused on high-volume community and transit routes. Priorities include plowing driving lanes/through lanes (not curb or parking lanes) and piling it roadside. Priority 2 routes include:

Major Community and Transit routes. Roads with more than 5000 vehicles per day, such as Kensington Road and Acadia Drive
Intersections and crosswalks controlled by traffic lights
Designated emergency routes (e.g. around hospitals and fire stations)
Bus routes
Roads with on-street bike lanes
Trouble spots

Days 3-7

Once crews have completed work on our major routes we shift focus onto other lower volume routes and duties. Work during this stage includes:

Remove barriers of snow and ice at important intersections along major routes
Finishing work on major routes (turn lanes, on/off ramps)
Levelling ruts in residential areas, if needed. Please note, The City does not clear snow from residential streets.
Clearing bus stops and designated feeder/collector routes that connect Priority 2 routes.

Priority pedestrian snow clearing

From the time snowfall ends, The City and our contracted partners focus on several active modes, including:

Within 24 hours:

Clearing snow from sidewalks bordering public property
Clearing snow from 750 kilometres of pathway

Within priority snow plan:

Reducing windrows at busy crosswalks and wheelchair curb ramps for better access

*The City is responsible for clearing approximately 10 per cent of Calgary sidewalks. Private property owners have the critical job of clearing the remaining 90 per cent, within 24 hours of a snowfall ending. Learn more about the bylaw requirements and escalating fines for failing to maintain a public sidewalk bordering your private property.