Residential plowing to start Sunday in Winnipeg

Residential street plowing will get started Sunday eveningin Winnipeg, the city says.

As many as 450 pieces of heavy equipment will hit the streets as part of the job, the city wrote in a news release Friday.

A residential parking ban will take effect Sunday at 7 p.m. The city is urging residents to know their snow zone before plowing starts to find out when their street is scheduled for clearing.

Michael Cantor, manager of streets maintenance for the City of Winnipeg, said the city has already started plowing main streets and sidewalks following snowfall earlier this week. A sanding operation is also running 24/7, he said.

Ice ruts forming on Winnipeg streets are dueto a bad combination of snowfall overnight and through rush hour with long-lasting cold temperatures, he said.

"I don't think we could do anything much better than what we did," he said. "These arethe circumstances, and we are dealing with Mother Nature."

Thanks for patience: City

The city is hauling in more sand for roads this weekend to keep the sanding operations going, Cantor said. For now, the city has enough sand on hand for the next two days.

He thanked Winnipeggers for patience as the city works.

Vehicles parked in violation of the parkingbans may receive a $150 ticket and may be towed to a nearby street that's not beingplowed or has already been cleared.

A declared parking banwhich extended the annual snow route parking ban by two hours, starting at midnight instead of 2 a.m.will end Saturday morning at 7 a.m., the city added. The annual ban will stay in place until March 1.

The residential plow will end on Wednesday at 7 a.m.

To see the full residential parking ban schedule, visit the city's website.

To find out your zone, visit the city's site. You can also call 311 or use theKnow Your Zoneapp.