Spring officially began on Sunday, but close to 20 cm of snow has fallen since then, leaving many in Red Deer feeling doubtful that green grass and sun showers are in the near future.
Last year at this time, we were experiencing balmy 11°C temperatures and, even better, there was no snow on the ground.
As is often the case with Red Deer in March (only January gets more snow on average), we’ll just have to wait this one out; and depressing as it may be that golf season probably won’t be getting an early start, this is not the time to let our guards down.
“I’m concerned as a citizen because the streets are cleaner than the sidewalks in many places,” said Canada Post mail carrier James Anderson.
The 37-year-old claimed that three-quarters of the sidewalks on his delivery route are routinely shoveled by responsible citizens, but the remaining 25 per cent are in unacceptable condition and “probably haven’t been shoveled in two or three months.”
Anderson said it makes him angry having to watch elderly Red Deerians risk their safety due to being forced to walk on the street.
“I can hand the bylaw (officers) a list as long as your arm of addresses they need to look at,” Anderson said.
The City of Red Deer has a bylaw that states the owner of a residence must remove snow from a sidewalk within 48 hours of a snowfall, or risk being fined by the city for the cost of removal. Complaints are usually logged with the bylaw office directly.
Motorist behaviour in Central Alberta during spring snow dumps also demonstrates a sharp divide between responsibility and carelessness, says Cpl. Doug Dewar with the RCMP’s Innisfail Highway Patrol.
Dewar was pleased to say he didn’t have to respond to any crashes on Tuesday morning in his detachment’s patrol area (Hwy 2 between Hwy 11A and Didsbury), but where Hwy 2 worsened (north of Hwy 11A), his department spent most the day assisting Ponoka Highway Patrol with a litany of accidents.
“People are driving too fast for road conditions, or their abilities, or their vehicle repair,” Dewar said.
Dewar said nearly every one of the drivers of the more than a dozen vehicles sliding off the road on Hwy 2 Tuesday morning exhibited these careless behaviours.
“When the road conditions are terrible, I urge people to manually turn on their headlights and please use your God-given sense and slow down when passing emergency vehicles,” Dewar said.
Dewar said a tow advisory had to be placed on Hwy 2 on Tuesday morning to allow traffic congestion to ease and for safety concerns. The advisory was lifted in the afternoon and tow trucks began pulling vehicles out from the snow-entrenched ditches.
syoung@www.reddeeradvocate.com