Heavy snowfall has town busy with snow removal

The town’s snow removal crews were out in full force on Sunday and Monday, after a snowstorm smothered many of Drumheller’s roads in deep snowbanks.

    As of Monday, the stage 1 roads– roads that receive top snow removal priority, had been cleared, but residential streets remained clogged upwith the white stuff.
    Operations manager for the town, Keith Russell, said the residential areas will see removal crews hit their streets on Tuesday and Wednesday.
    “Everything we’ve got that moves is on the road right now,” said Russell on Monday, adding that nine town employees were working full days to clear roads.
    “There are not a lot of places to put the snow, but we’re doing our best,” said Russell. He encourages drivers to avoid driving through the windrows which have been piled up in the middle of Drumheller’s streets. He also suggests residents shovel their snow onto their own property, and not on the street.
    Drumheller RCMP Staff Sergeant Arthur Hopkins said it was a quiet weekend in regards to serious collisions.
    “Our guys were busy with a number of things,” says Hopkins. “There was a lot of inconvenience, but no big accidents or injuries. All said and done, it didn’t have a big effect on us.”
    Other jurisdictions in the province did not have such a smooth weekend. Highway 1 from the Calgary city limits to Bassano was closed over the course of the storm. Strathmore’s schools were closed, along with Kneehill County schools. Some busses in the Golden Hills School Division were not running, but schools were open.
    Drumheller’s schools remained open, and bus routes are determined at a per-driver basis each morning before 7:00.