City continues cleanup after significant snowfall
Crews working around the clock

MEDIA RELEASE:

WINNIPEG December 31, 2006 - The City of Winnipeg continues with snow clearing operations in the wake of the significant snowfall over the past 24 hours.

Priority I - Regional Streets

Truck plowing operations of Priority I streets began last night at 7 p.m. A complete round was completed by 8 a.m. this morning. A second round of all Priority I streets is currently underway and will continue until completed. Grader plowing to complete the clean-up of all Priority I streets will commence Monday, January 1, 2007.

Priority II - Bus Routes and Collector Streets

Grader plowing of all Priority II streets is scheduled to commence at 7 p.m. or earlier on Sunday, December 31, 2006 and continue until complete.

Priority III - Residential Streets

Grader plowing of all Priority II streets is scheduled to commence at 7 p.m. or earlier on Sunday, December 31, 2006 and continue until complete.

A full grader plow of Priority III streets is planned to commence on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. Therefore, the Residential Overnight Parking Ban will be in effect from 12:01 am Wednesday, January 3, 2006 on all streets NOT designated as snowroutes. The Residential Overnight Parking Ban prohibits parking on any street not designated as a snowroute between midnight and 6 a.m. The Residential Overnight Parking Ban will continue until lifted by the Director of Public Works.

Backlanes:

Front end loaders have commenced plowing of backlanes and will continue around the clock until completed.

Sidewalks:

Clearing sidewalks will commence on Priority I walks, followed by Priority IIs and IIIs. Sidewalks will be cleared once the street has been plowed. For example, once a Priority I street has been cleared, that sidewalk will be cleared. Work will continue until complete. To assist in this evening's festivities, clearing of the sidewalks in the downtown area is in progress.

Parking Bans:

To aid the on-going plowing operations, a Major Snowfall Parking Ban is being declared effective 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, January 2, 2007. This ban prohibits parking between midnight and 6:00 a.m. on all designated Snow Routes. Citizens are reminded any vehicles parked on designated Snow Routes during the prohibited hours are subject to being ticketed and towed at the owner’s expense. The Major Snowfall Parking Ban will be in place for one night, but may be extended if required.

For additional information on parking bans please visit winnipeg.ca/publicworks.

During this snow clearing operation, the public is advised to watch for heavy equipment working throughout the City. New Year's Eve travellers are encouraged to use extra caution as snow clearing efforts continue.

As a result of the heavy snowfall, a major snow hauling operation will take place after the streets have been cleared.

The total cost of this clean-up operation is estimated at between $2.5 and $3.0 Million.

Transit Update:

Winnipeg Transit is currently experiencing a LARGE GENERAL SERVICE DELAY. A "Large" General delay means that individual buses may be running over 20 minutes behind their regularly scheduled times. However this does not necessarily mean that the intervals between buses has been impacted. Generally, during any kind of "General" service delays, the intervals between buses remains reasonably constant.

Service up-dates will be available on the Winnipeg Transit website @ www.winnipegtransit.com or through TeleBus (numbers listed in the red tabbed pages of the MTS Yellow Pages)

The following service cancellations or modifications are currently in effect:

• 11 - Portage – Westwood - No service on Rouge Road. Service restored to Grace Hospital Drive, via reverse of regular route, effective 1445 hrs.
• 11 - Portage – Crestview - No service on Lumsden – re-routed via: Cavalier, Hamilton, Buchanan, both ways effective 2:45 p.m.
• 14 - Ellice – No service west of Berry – Service re-routed west on Ellice, north on Berry, east on Sargent, south on Route 90 and back east on Ellice.
• 14 – St.Mary’s – No service on Britannica, Paddington, John Forsythe or on Burland, south of Warde – Re-routed via: St.Mary’s, Warde, Dakota – both ways.
• 16 – Selkirk – No service west of Keewatin or on Chudley or Tyndall.
• 18 – Corydon – No service west of Edgeland.
• 18 – North Main – No service into Riverbend, buses U-turning at Red River Blvd & Main.
• 19 – Marion – No service on Paterson between Westmount and Lagimodiere.
• 29 – Sherbrook – Regular route effective 2:45 p.m. hrs.
• 43 – Munroe – No service south of Broadway.
• 44 – Grey – No service to Brunswick Industrial Area----service cut short @ McLeod Ave
• 60 – Pembina - University - No service to U of M Terminal on Dafoe – Buses are U-turning at Dafoe and University Cres.
• 70 – Richmond – University - No Service on Baylor or Dalhousie South. Re-routed using Killarney both ways.
• 70 – Richmond – St.Norbert - No service west of Pembina in St.Norbert. Service operating south on Pembina, then east on Lemay, south on St. Pierre, west on De L’Eglise, north on Villeneuve, east on Ducharme and north on Pembina to regular route.
• 75 - Crosstown East – No service on Willowlake.
• 77 – Crosstown North – No Service on Templeton between Main and Salter, re-routed using Leila Ave. No service north of Inkster to Old Commonwealth/Garton and no service west of Keewatin on Kinver & Dexter.
• 83 – Crestview Feeder – Service Cancelled.
• 92 – Lakeside Meadows – Service Cancelled Effective 12:45.
• 95 – Morley – Riverview – Service Cancelled.

It is anticipated all routes will be operational for the return of regular weekday service on Tuesday, January 2, 2007.

Garbage / Recycling:

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 will remain Day 1 on the collection calendar for garbage and recycling pick-up.