The snow and ice control program in Leduc helps keep the community safe and mobile. It includes two areas of focus: snow clearing and snow removal. With over 540 lane kilometers of roads and 90 kilometers of sidewalks and trails to maintain, every effort makes a difference to an efficient process.
When the snow falls, crews begin the process to clear city streets, sidewalks, recreational areas and parking lots, and lay sand to control ice.
When a major snowfall happens, crews clear one temporary pathway down the middle of every street in the city for emergency access, if required. Snow plowing may occur on any street, road or lane at any time if the street becomes impassible for emergency response vehicles.
Once a certain amount of compacted snow is accumulated, crews begin to remove snow following this prioritization:
- Downtown commercial: begins after 5 cm of compacted snow is accumulated
- Remaining downtown area: begins after 7–10 cm of compacted snow is accumulated
- Collector roads: begins after 7–10 cm of compacted snow is accumulated
- Residential streets: begins after 15 cm of compacted snow is accumulated
Collector routes and residential areas are completed on a rotational basis with the order reversed after each removal process, barring any modifications required for waste collection and resource availability. At any time, snow removal in one area may be suspended so crews can revisit higher priority roads that have received additional snowfall.
The City also removes snow from sidewalks, multi-ways, outdoor ice surfaces and parking lots.
Parking bans, tag and tow
Two types of parking bans – seasonal or residential – can be declared to help crews efficiently clear collector and residential roads.
Will impact collector roads (e.g., 48 Street and Corinthia Drive), which are listed as “Priority 3” on the snow removal map. You will be given 24 hours’ notice to move your vehicles before the parking ban goes into effect. Permanent signage has been installed to identify these roads.
Will impact residential roads (e.g., Berg Loop and Woods Crescent), which are listed as “Priority 4” on the snow removal map. Temporary signage (with dates) will be placed at the entrance to neighbourhoods giving you 48 hours’ notice to move your vehicles before the parking ban goes into effect. Residential parking bans will rotate as crews move through residential neighbourhoods in the City. Snow clearing takes 1-4 days in each neighbourhood
The City will monitor and may attempt to contact the owners of any vehicles not removed from the street, as a courtesy, on the day of snow removal. If we are unable to contact you, your vehicle will be towed to a nearby street that has either been cleared or is not affected by the ban. You will be issued a $250 ticket to cover the towing expense.
If a towed vehicle is not collected within 72 hours, it will be considered abandoned and towed to an impound facility where it will be subject to impound fees in addition to the issued ticket.
All parking bans end once the street has been cleared and windrows are removed.
Ice control
As road conditions become slippery, abrasives and/or melting agents may be applied to hazardous locations such as intersections, curves, railway crossings and school crosswalks. Residential intersections, lane entrances and exits may be sanded only as required.
Leduc does not use salt on residential roads. This prevents contamination of storm ponds and is more environmentally friendly for lawns, trees and sidewalks. Instead, finely crushed rock is used across the city; it is environmentally benign and has far superior traction than sand for both cars and pedestrians.
Dry sand is available for free at multiple locations for any residents who want to neutralize ice.
Your responsibilities
Your effort is essential to keeping our streets clear and safe each winter. We appreciate your help to:
- Remove any rubber driveway/curb pads, basketball nets, or other materials along your curb
- Keep fire hydrant areas clear of snow
- Move your cars off the street when a parking ban is declared
- Shovel snow onto your property, not onto the roadway
Report a problem
Please report any issues by using the SeeClickFix app or by calling 780-980-7133 during business hours.
Snow and Ice FAQs
We understand you may have questions about the City’s snow removal program. Please review the FAQs below. If your question is not answered, please call 780-980-7133 during business hours.
As road conditions become slippery, sanding is applied to hazardous locations such as intersections, curves, railway crossings and school/pedestrian crosswalks. Snow plowing will commence on major roadways after an accumulation of 2 – 5 cm.
Roadway priority is listed in the City’s Snow and Ice Control Policy, as follows:
Snow plow priority:
- Priority 1: Arterial Roads (2 – 5 cm compacted snow)
- Priority 2: Secondary Roads (5 – 10 cm compacted snow)
Snow removal priority:
- Priority 1: Downtown Commercial Area (5 cm compacted snow)
- Priority 2: Downtown Core (7 – 10 cm compacted snow)
- Priority 3: Collectors (7 – 10 cm compacted snow)
- Priority 4: Residential (15 cm compacted snow) – signs placed in neighbourhoods
Residential neighbourhoods will have their snow removed after an accumulation of 15 cm of compacted snow or when access by emergency vehicles is severely impaired. We’ll let you know when snow is being cleared from residential streets by placing signs ahead of time in your neighbourhood.
Locations and their order are listed in the City’s Snow and Ice Control Policy, with the order being reversed on the next occurence of snow removal. However, when a cycle is not completed because of additional snowfall and the City returns to the main roads, residential snow removal will be started where the crews left off.
When clearing snow from Level 4 Removal Priority areas, the City will place signs in your neighbourhood. These signs mean snow removal equipment will be working there for the next few days. Please be mindful of where you park during this time and try to avoid parking on the street. This will help crews to stay on schedule and clear as much snow as possible.
Normal snow removal equipment will blade the snow to a level snow pack but not necessarily clear residential roads to bare pavement. The objective of the snow removal process is to make the roads drivable and reduce the amount of surface flooding during the spring melt.
Back alleys are the same priority as residential streets and are not plowed until all the higher priority roads are completed.
When snow removal is scheduled for your neighbourhood, please be sure to move your vehicle off the street. There will be signs in your neighbourhood in advance of and during the snow removal process. If a car is not moved it will be tagged and towed to a cleared collector road. The vehicle owners will be fined $250 to cover the towing expense.
A windrow is a pile of snow on the side or middle of the road created by snow clearing equipment. Do not attempt to drive through a windrow as you may get stuck or damage your vehicle. Leduc is one of the few communities that still removes windrows. Our windrow clearing program helps seniors and people with physical disabilities or medical conditions who are unable to clear the windrow on their own.
Snow that gets removed from the roads is trucked into the City’s permanent snow storage site.
The cooperation and support of Leduc residents is essential to keeping our streets clear and safe throughout winter. Some things you can do to help include:
- Move your cars off the street
- Do not shovel any snow from your property onto the roadway
- Remove any rubber driveway/curb pads or other materials along your curb
- Give snow removal and sanding equipment enough room to do their job safely
The City removes snow on multiway and sidewalk corridors that pedestrians use to access business areas, service providers, and recreation and education facilities.
Sidewalks and multiways will be cleared to a ‘snow-free’ surface after 2 cm of snow.
Sidewalks and multiways are not normally sanded unless they become hazardous due to freezing rain or other such weather conditions.
Outdoor ice surfaces will be cleared once all sidewalk and multiways have been completed.
Seasonal parking bans were introduced to improve the effectiveness of our snow removal operations, reduce vehicle damage from snow removal equipment, and reduce call backs to return for missed snow.
The ban is lifted once the road has been cleared and the windrow has been removed. You may resume parking on a cleared road.
Snow removal is dependent on the amount of snow accumulated and size of the area. During a collector road snow removal, roads are completed in one to two weeks. A single neighbourhood, during a residential road snow removal, is typically completed in one to three days.
Subscribe to the email list to be alerted about parking bans or follow the City’s social channels.
Please ask clients to be prepared to park within your driveway or on a street not affected by the ban.
The fine is $250, which includes towing expenses.
Fines collected will be used to offset the cost of towing.
Enforcement Services will attempt to contact the registered owner first before the vehicle is tagged and towed.
A vehicle parked on a roadway subject to a parking ban can be reported to Enforcement Services at 780-980-1537.
If a vehicle is towed, it will be moved to a nearby cleared collector road. If the vehicle remains on the road afterwards for more than 72 hours, it will then be taken to a tow yard.