Pincher Creek town council has approved an updated winter street maintenance policy. This comes after last week’s heavy snowfall, which served as a stark reminder of the challenges winter brings.

The updated policy, approved at Monday’s council meeting, aims to improve snow-removal efforts and make streets safer and more accessible during the winter months.

The policy was last updated in 2018, when a priority route was introduced to accommodate the town’s transit pilot project. Since then, council discussions have increasingly focused on improving access to critical areas, particularly seniors’ housing.

A key step in shaping the new policy was the Snow Management Engagement Survey, completed in May 2024. Results from the survey, reflecting community input on snow-removal priorities and concerns, were presented at the town’s open house on June 12.

One of the updates in the policy includes revision of sanding materials to better align with the current availability and use of products, ensuring the most effective methods for clearing snow.

Additionally, Section 3.4 has been updated, changing the first priority from “all hills” to “major hills,” reflecting the need to focus on steeper, more critical inclines.

The section also now includes “minor hills” as Priority 4. The previous inclusion of the transit bus route in the priority list has also been deleted.

Other updates to the policy include minor revisions to snow-fencing guidelines in Section 5 and changes to snow-removal priorities for certain routes.

In Section 6.4, the transit bus route has been removed, with a greater emphasis on major hills.

Priority adjustments were also made to Section 7.1, where downtown parking was added as a priority, ensuring that busy commercial areas are kept clear.

Section 7.4 now revises Priority 3 to focus on school zones, encompassing the entire school zone, including crosswalks, which were previously a separate priority.

The revised policy also removes Livingston Way and elementary school zone bus loading areas from priority listings, as these areas are now covered within Priority 3 for school zones.

The policy update also includes significant changes to the town’s snow-removal map. These updates reflect the revised priorities and add major routes within emergency routes for improved mobility along key traffic corridors.

Priority 1 routes have also been expanded to include access to Crestview Lodge, Vista Village, Whispering Winds and Creekside Condos, ensuring emergency services can reach seniors’ residences with ease. School access routes and minor hills have also been added to the updated map.

Other important map updates include the introduction of revised colour coding to differentiate between commercial and residential traffic control, streamlining the snow removal process.

In line with these updates, roadways without a designated priority level will still be maintained, but only after the completion of higher-priority areas.

In some cases, lower-priority roadways may receive maintenance earlier depending on equipment routing and operational efficiency, with snowplows often working their way between priority areas.

Konrad Dunbar, the town’s chief administrative officer, highlighted the need for the revisions: “The policy was old and needed to be updated.”

“There have been changes over the years and this was basically an updating of that policy to better ways of doing it so we can provide a better level of service without increasing costs,” Dunbar told Shootin’ the Breeze.

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