‘Just bear with us’: city asks drivers for patience with snow-clearing operation By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 5:43 PM CST Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025

Several days after two snowstorms walloped Winnipeg, many of the city’s major routes remain treacherous because of deep ice ruts.

As drivers struggle to safely navigate the roads, the city reassured Winnipeggers that street clearing hasn’t been completed.

“Just bear with us,” said Michael Cantor, the city’s manager of street maintenance.

Blizzard conditions first arrived last Wednesday and Thursday, followed by a second Alberta clipper on Friday.

Cantor noted large snow ridges have been built up on most main routes, including Pembina Highway, Archibald Street, St. Anne’s Road, St. Mary’s Road, Notre Dame Avenue, McPhillips Street and Portage Avenue.

He said weather conditions have complicated the task of removing them.

“When we plow with very cold temperatures, and we cannot use salt ahead of time, it’s hard to achieve bare pavement… especially when you get waves of back-to-back (snow) events, with high winds,” said Cantor.

On mild days, the city can pre-treat roads with salt before a snowfall to create a “bond-breaker” that makes ice and snow easier to remove, he said.

“But if you have -15 C and -20 C, you can’t use salt because it’s not really effective and then you don’t have that bond-breaker… especially when you have traffic packing (the snow down) all the time,” said Cantor.

Road salt becomes less effective when temperatures dip below roughly -10 C, he said.

City crews will return soon to remove deep ruts at some locations, including Pembina Highway from Jubilee Avenue to Chevrier Boulevard. Other routes will be tackled once warmer temperatures arrive, possibly this weekend, he said.

More crews could be devoted to that work as residential plowing is completed. The last round of that work was scheduled to end by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said she understands the concern about ice ridges. About five years ago, a vehicle slid into her car after losing control on a ridge, she said.

However, she noted the latest wild weather has prolonged snow-clearing work. She urged Winnipeggers to be patient.

“We’re a winter city and we have one of the best snow-clearing policies in North America … It’s going to get cleaned,” said Lukes (Waverley West).

In addition, some of the massive snow piles at street corners that can impede drivers’ views will also be moved soon, Cantor said.

The city expects to clear some mounds from downtown on Sunday, by relocating ice and snow piles to safer spots and hauling some to city snow dumps.

The sheer volume of snow that fell this month, with limited melting, allowed some snow piles to grow several feet high. Winnipeg received 33 cm of snow between Dec. 2 and Tuesday, city data show.

“The majority came in the past week or so… (Almost) all of it is on our boulevards,” said Cantor.

Many local routes are also very slippery. Sanding has been continuous for days but is not sticking well to roads, Cantor said.

“We continue to sand around the clock. Sand tends to either be buried in the snow… or (get pushed) off the wheel path to the sides.”

Some residents have reported that sidewalks are blocked by large piles of ice and snow.

Cantor said that happens when street-clearing equipment arrives after the sidewalks have been cleared.

“The sidewalks are reported as done. But, then, if a loader comes and throws a pile at the entrance of the sidewalk, it obviously (looks blocked)… That needs to be addressed,” he said.

At city-cleared sidewalks, crews will return for a second pass to remove the added snow, Cantor said. Contractors are also required to clear that snow and the city conducts inspections to ensure that happens, he said.

City crews currently clear snow from about 50 per cent of all streets and 75 per cent of sidewalks, while contractors clear the rest, he said.

Lukes said the city’s “second pass” of sidewalks is relatively new and greatly improves final conditions.

Other Winnipeggers have complained their street wasn’t cleared completely due to vehicles being parked in violation of the snow-clearing ban. Lukes said she’s not sure whether additional public education will be enough to address that issue.

She said the city could increase the $200 fine for violating the residential parking ban, although she’s not advocating for that change right now.

“Let’s see how many people don’t move their vehicles and how many tickets are issued (this winter),” she said.

“Sometimes people seem to respond when we hit them in the pocketbook … I am totally open to that… because we need to keep our roads open,” said Lukes.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga