Snow Clearing Frequently Asked Questions

• Every residential street in Fort McMurray has been assigned a WMZ "subzone" and one designated weekday for maintenance. You can find this information on posted street signage or by using the Find Your Zone tool.
• There are four WMZ subzones: WMZ-1, WMZ- 2, WMZ-3, and WMZ-4 (also known as subzone 1, subzone 2, etc.). It's important residents know their subzone and the designated weekday that winter maintenance may occur on their street.
• For the weeks when your subzone is active, on-street parking restrictions are in effect only on your designated maintenance day from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Typically, your subzone will be active every second week, meaning you need to move your vehicle off the street twice a month on your designated day. However, it’s still important to check the status of your subzone every week during the winter.
• There will be times when your subzone is active, and no maintenance occurs. This typically happens when crews are performing snow removal or there are numerous vehicles parked in active subzones.
• You can keep up with winter maintenance in your neighbourhood by checking the WMZ Progress Map.
• From Oct. 15 to April 15, WMZ subzones may be activated or relaxed depending on the need for winter maintenance. Typically, when subzones are activated, others will be relaxed to allow more flexibility and options for on-street parking.
• If a subzone is relaxed, on-street WMZ parking restrictions are NOT in effect and vehicles can park on the street without being ticketed or towed. Please watch for other posted signage as other parking restrictions may apply.
• At the beginning of the WMZ season, snow must first be plowed off the road, with snow removal happening periodically in the following weeks.

You can keep up to date on the status of WMZs in the following ways.

• Sign up for WMZ email alerts
• Watch for updates on electronic signs at the entrance of each neighbourhood
• Check the banner at the top of the municipal website
• Follow the RMWB on Facebook and Twitter
• Contact PULSE

Winter Maintenance Zones will only be active on one weekday between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., therefore you'll be able to make advance arrangements to move your vehicles if necessary.

Parking alternatives include driveways, garages, or sharing a parking space with a neighbour or friend.

Additional parking can be found in public parking lots in Fort McMurray.

On-street parking may also be available along primary and secondary routes when your Winter Maintenance Zone is active. Other parking restrictions may apply along these routes, so watch for any posted signage.

Residents are responsible for complying with parking regulation as set out in Bylaw 21/010. Vehicles parked in an active Winter Maintenance Zone could be ticketed and towed to an impound yard. Parking tickets and towing fees are the responsibility of the vehicle owner.

The fine for a Notice of Violation is $120 for parking in an active Winter Maintenance Zone. Impound and towing fees may also apply.

Fees

The towing time on invoices begins once the towing contractor leaves their location to travel to site. Once on-site, the following tasks are performed:

• Sign and receive paperwork from Bylaw Services
• Take four pictures of the vehicle
• Load the vehicle onto the tuck
• Travel back to storage facility on Hwy 69
• Off-load the vehicle
• Take four additional pictures of vehicle
• Report paperwork to office

Storage fees are also applied to the invoice.

Ticket fines are collected through the Municipal Law Enforcement. Funds from ticketing revenue are returned to the Municipality's general revenue, which are then used to recover costs for municipal programs.

An independent, third-party company performs towing and impound services for Winter Maintenance Zones. The Municipality does not perform this function and therefore does not generate any revenue from towing or impound services.

Snow is plowed to the right-hand side to clear roads and keep them safe. With regular residential plowing, residents may notice small windrows accumulating along the sides of roads and at the end of their driveway.

Beginning in the 2020-21 WMZ season, crews are removing windrows that are higher than 15 cm and have been created by a snowplow in an active Subzone. Windrow removal only applies to residential streets included in the WMZ program.

Windrow removal is intended to help residents clear their driveways when a larger than normal windrow is left from a plow in an active Winter Maintenance Zone. It is still each resident's responsibility to clear snow from their driveway, including the windrow at the end of their driveway (unless it is larger than 15 cm and created from a plow in an active Zone or Subzone). This approach is modelled after best-practices from other municipalities in Alberta.

Residents are encouraged to clear snow from their driveway a short time after snowfall or road maintenance. As we live in a northern community, sub-zero temperatures are common and can make the snow harder to clear as the temperatures drop.

Residents are reminded that when shoveling driveways, sidewalks or windrows, snow cannot be placed back onto the road. Snow can be put on lawns or right-of-ways, out of the way of traffic and pedestrians.

Snow plowing

Snow is pushed from the roadway to the sides of the road or the center to maintain at least one traffic lane and space for on-street parking. This process is not as time consuming as snow removal, so it happens more often.

Snow removal

Snow is loaded into trucks and hauled to storage sites. This is more time consuming and costly than snow plowing, so it happens less frequently.

Residents and commercial businesses are responsible for clearing the sidewalks adjacent to their property, in accordance with Bylaw 21/010.

Municipal crews will clear any snow that they place on sidewalks during winter maintenance operations.

Residents are also responsible to clear snow from their driveways, including the windrow at the end of their driveway. This approach is modelled after best-practices from other municipalities in Alberta.

Snow and ice must be immediately removed if a property has any kind of building adjacent to or erected within three metres of any public place. Accumulated snow or ice on the roof poses a danger and must be immediately removed with due precaution taken to warn and protect passersby. If any premises has an awning extending to any degree over a public place, it must be kept free of snow and ice; if water does drip from the awing, the owner/occupant/tenant must clean it up to prevent ice from forming.

The municipality may use minimal sand or salt in residential areas after plowing if conditions warrant. The standard practice is to sand the intersections only. In other municipalities where only salt is used, lawns come back every spring with a little raking, water and fertilizer.

The municipality uses minimal salt because it only works in temperatures down to -14°C. Instead, we use a sand mixture treated with calcium chloride, which adheres to road surfaces and works in temperatures colder than -15°C.

Council approved the latest version of the Urban Ice and Snow Control Program Policy (OPE – 150) on Oct. 10, 2023.

The purpose of the policy is to set winter snow and ice control standards. It helps ensure that municipal roads and sidewalks are maintained to:

• reduce hazards and economic loss,
• prioritize safe access to emergency vehicles and transit, and
• provide guidelines for management and operating personnel in the handling of winter maintenance operations.