Calgary road crews have a new piece of equipment they can use to clear snow-covered streets this winter. The City of Calgary unveiled the new high-capacity snowplow during a Friday news conference. Chris Hewitt, manager of mobility maintenance, says the “wing plow” has a retractable wing that can be used to clear multiple lanes in a single pass, allowing crews to clear roads more efficiently. “We want to make sure that this is an effective piece of equipment for our roads,” he said. “We’ll be focusing on roads like Glenmore and Crowchild — the larger roads, the three-lane style roads — and we anticipate that clearing multiple lanes of travel at a time will really help us during and after a snowfall.” In addition to the new wing plow, the city’s fleet includes more than 100 traditional snowplows, 30 large graders, 10 loaders, 10 snow blowers and more than 50 pieces of smaller equipment used to clear pathways, sidewalks and cycle tracks. “In addition to that, we have contracted support for our pathways and sidewalks, and we have access to on-call graders if we find ourselves in a major snowfall event.” The budget for road clearing in Calgary this year is roughly $58 million, Hewitt said. Of that, $34 million was used in the first half of 2026, leaving $24 million for the remainder of the year. “We anticipate that that is more than enough for the winter season that the forecasts are showing, and we may be able to contribute some of that budget to our winter maintenance reserve for future years,” Hewitt said. How Calgary handles snow-covered roads Calgary clears snow-covered roads using a Priority Snow Plan. Crews spend the first 18 hours after snow stops falling tackling Priority 1 routes, including roads with more than 20,000 vehicles per day, like Crowchild Trail, as well as downtown cycle tracks. Deerfoot Trail and Stoney Trail are maintained by the provincial government. Crews then focus on Priority 2 routes — roads that carry more than 5,000 vehicles a day — like Kensington Road and Acadia Drive, as well as designated emergency routes around hospitals and fire stations, bus routes and roads with on-street bike lanes. This is done from 18 hours after snowfall ends to 36 hours. After that, crews turn to clearing Priority 3 routes, which include school and playground zones. Though the city does not typically clear snow from residential streets, crews will level ruts in them as needed. “Calgarians can be assured that crews and contractors are ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week throughout the winter,” Hewitt said. Snow route parking bans The city can also issue Snow Route Parking Bans to help road crews clear streets from snow. The parking bans are put in place when Calgary has seen a significant accumulation of snow. Once called, snow-route parking bans can be in place for up to 72 hours. Snow routes are indicated by blue signs with a white snowflake symbol. Any vehicles left on snow routes during the ban can be ticketed or towed, but on-street accessible parking is exempt.
