OLDS — If snow dumped on sidewalks along Highway 27 through Olds is making them slippery and dangerous, Brent Williams, the town’s chief administrative officer, has an idea.
He says to contact Alberta Transportation which is responsible for highways, or Volker Stevin, the company contracted to look after them.
Williams made that suggestion during the Town of Olds council’s Dec. 5 policies and priorities meeting. He noted that Volker Stevin has an office in the Olds area.
Deputy mayor Wanda Blatz raised the issue.
She said when Highway 27 is plowed “quite a windrow” is created, often spilling on to nearby sidewalks or trails.
When chinooks come and go, the resulting freeze/thaw cycle can create ice along those sidewalks, making them very dangerous for anyone using them.
Williams and Scott Grieco, the town’s operations director, stressed that town staff aren’t responsible for snow clearing on highways through town, only the area beyond, such as sidewalks and trails.
They said staff work hard to keep those sidewalks and trails as safe and ice-free as possible.
Coun. James Cummings said Highway 27 was plowed well when the first big snowfall hit.
However, he said in a lot of cases, turning lanes weren’t plowed at all. He cited the turnoff into the Westview Co-op parking lot as one example.
He asked Williams if citizens should be contacting the town or Alberta Transportation itself about concerns like that.
Williams said town staff get complaints “all the time” about the condition of highways in town. He advised contacting Alberta Transportation or Volker Stevin officials if highways aren’t plowed sufficiently.
"I think we can do a better job of making that information available, both the numbers and the priority and whether people choose to follow that is up to them,” Williams said.
