Calgary is piloting a new tool in its snow-clearing arsenal, with the addition of a winged unit, so to speak.

While it’s not likely to get airborne anytime soon, a new plow with a hydraulic wing is set for active duty when the snow starts flying in earnest this winter.

It’s part of the 2026 City of Calgary snow clearing plan, which already has crews readied 24/7 to keep roads safe and clear. Winter personnel shifts were activated after the brief snowfall Calgary saw in October.

“This year, our winter maintenance program will be guided by our council-approved winter maintenance policy and program plan,” he said.  

“What that means is that whether you’re driving a car, riding a bike, walking, or taking transit, when the snow starts, our crews will be out making sure that you can get around the city safely.”

The City of Calgary’s winter maintenance plan includes clearing of Priority 1 routes within 18 hours of snowfall stop time, and this includes Calgary’s busiest roadways that collect more than 20,000 vehicles per day. Think Crowchild, Glenmore, Macleod Trails, along with downtown core roads and the cycle tracks.

Priority 2 routes are those with more than 5,000 vehicles per day, along with major signalized intersections and crosswalks. It includes bus routes, emergency routes, and trouble spots. These are cleared within 18 to 36 hours after snowfall stops.

Finally, 36 hours after snowfall stops, the City of Calgary crews shift to lower-volume routes and clearing barriers of snow and ice, levelling ruts in neighbourhoods, clearing bus stops and designated routes to transit.

“When the snow comes, we should be able to keep people moving safely during and after a snowfall,” Hewitt said.

“We have a large fleet of vehicles and equipment this year to support us with our winter maintenance program. That fleet includes over 100 traditional snowplows, 30 large graders, 10 loaders, 10 snow blowers, over 50 pieces of smaller equipment which can work on our pathways, sidewalks, and cycle tracks.”

Winged unit can move more snow, faster

This year the City of Calgary’s snow clearing team will test out a larger truck, one capable of pushing snow at the front and from a hydraulically powered wing on the side. They want to see if it can decrease the amount of time it takes to clear larger roads.

“What this is is a large traditional snow plow with a retractable wing on the side,” Hewitt said.

“This piece of equipment can clear two lanes of traffic at a single time, and we anticipate that it’ll be a great tool for us on some of our larger roads, roads like Crowchild or Glenmore.”

Hewitt said it essentially does a mini-echelon plow. Echelon plowing is where multiple trucks in adjacent lanes plow in a staggered fashion all at once to simultaneously remove as much snow from a large roadway as possible.

“We’ll still be echelon plowing with our fleet when it’s required, and this may even form a part of those echelon plow crews,” he said.

A recent city audit of snow clearing found that while snow clearing was “generally effective” in complying with the council snow clearing policy, it did point out areas where monitoring, data validation and performance measurement could be improved.

It pointed out that there were some issues in the reporting of completed work.

“However, we identified some gaps in the performance monitoring controls including instances where reported performance results did not consistently agree with supporting SITREP data, certain surfaces and partner-managed activities were excluded from reporting, and pedestrian performance reporting was not aligned with Council-approved service timelines,” the report read.

Hewitt said he was pleased to see that work on snow clearing was found to be generally effective.

“Where we found some room to strengthen our program was really on the reporting side, making sure that people know what’s happening, when it’s happening, and that we’re well coordinated with other groups providing snow services in the city,” he said.

He noted the increasing use of Calgary’s CCTV system for weather and roads monitoring as being a tool in examining live conditions while in a snow event.

The 2026 Calgary snow clearing budget is $58 million, and Hewitt said that thus far they’ve spent about $34 million.

He said they anticipate that the remaining $24 million will be more than enough for this year’s winter season forecasts.