City officials are warning that travel may be difficult Thursday with as much as 40 cm of snow forecast to fall overnight.
The city’s public works department is taking no chances with what is expected to be the city’s biggest snowstorm in several years.
“This is not your typical storm, and we anticipate that multiple passes will be required to clear and treat these conditions,” the department says bluntly on its webpage.
The department has already categorized the storm as a “significant weather event.”
Environment Canada has issued a “winter storm warning” for Ottawa and most of Eastern Ontario, with a forecast of up to 40 cm of snow by Thursday afternoon.
That means “we know that we will not be meeting our winter maintenance timeline objectives, and snow clearing and treating operations will take longer than usual.”
Accumulation on city sidewalks, roads and winter cycling networks will be “heavy and wet.” It’s expected that “multiple passes” will be needed to clear and treat the roads.
“Given the amount of snow expected, some residents may find it challenging to get out of their communities until crews have been able to clear the residential sidewalks and streets.”
Environment Canada has issued a “winter storm warning” for Ottawa and most of eastern Ontario, with a forecast of up to 40 cm of snow by Thursday.
In a memo to city council, Jake Gravelle, area manager for the public works department said, “All resources will be deployed to clear sidewalks, priority roads, bus routes, the Transitway and the winter cycling network, but it will take a while to clear the snow.”
Evening Update
“Accumulation on our network will be heavy and wet and our sidewalks, roads and the winter cycling network will be covered with snow.”
Ottawa has more than 500 pieces of equipment for winter operations, including graders, loaders, sidewalk plows and salt trucks.
Meanwhile, OC Transpo says it will be reducing some bus service, including the articulated buses which have proven to be ineffective on snowy streets.
The city has already said there will be two back-to-back winter weather parking bans called: The first will be Thursday, Feb. 13 in effect from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the second on Friday, Feb. 14, also from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
“Though eligible parking permit holders are exempt, we encourage those who can, please try to find alternate parking during this time to prevent your vehicle from being snowed in,” the city cautioned. Information on winter parking ban options is available at Ottawa.ca/winterparking.
The city has said roads and sidewalks are cleared based on their “usage volume and priority level,” starting with major roads and arterials, Highway 174 and the Transitway. Snow clearing will begin on the high-priority roads and sidewalks at the start of the storm.
Snow is expected to start Wednesday evening and intensify overnight with the heaviest snow expected to fall through the night into Thursday morning. Peak snowfall rates are expected to exceed five cm per hour with a total of 30 cm to 40 cm forecast before gradually tapering off on Thursday afternoon. Winds will be up to 30 km/h, gusting to 50, causing blowing and drifting snow in open areas.
Travel should be avoided as rapidly accumulating snow will make conditions on the transportation network difficult to navigate and road closures are possible.
For more information on parking rules and other snowstorm measures for the city go to: https://ottawa.ca/en/parking-roads-and-travel/roads-sidewalks-and-pathways/snow-plowing-and-clearing
