Calgary's wing plow adds two-lane snow clearing on Crowchild and Glenmore this winter
The city is trying a new piece of equipment that plows two lanes at once as crews move to a winter schedule.
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Calgary's snow-clearing crews will try a wing plow this winter, a slightly larger snowplow with a retractable hydraulic wing that clears two lanes at once. Residential streets are not cleared until 36 hours after a snow event ends, and often not until three to five days later.
"It will be a great tool for us on some of our large roads like Crowchild or Glenmore," said Chris Hewitt, manager of the city's mobility maintenance team, at a yearly news availability Friday. "We anticipate that clearing multiple lanes of travel at a time will really help us during and after a snowfall."
The city has a winter maintenance budget of $58 million for 2026. About $34 million was spent last winter, which leaves $24 million for the rest of this calendar year. Unspent money goes into a winter maintenance reserve, capped at $15 million.
Council-directed policy sets the clearing order. Priority 1 roadways, which carry more than 20,000 vehicles a day, must be cleared within 18 hours of a snowfall ending, along with city-owned sidewalks, priority pathways and pedestrian overpasses. Arterial and collector roads and transit routes come next, within 36 hours. Residential streets are third.
The city's fleet includes more than 100 traditional snowplows, 30 large graders, 10 loaders, 10 snow blowers and more than 50 pieces of small equipment for pathways, sidewalks and cycle tracks, and the wing plow joins it. Hewitt said the snow maintenance team has already moved to its winter schedule, so crews can respond to a snowfall at any time. He asked drivers to be patient, allow more time for trips, slow down and leave more stopping distance once winter driving starts, and keep an emergency kit in the trunk.
