A friend of mine just relocated to Edmonton and he told me that the road condition is really bad as they don't seem to clean the roads. Is that true? I want to check as i am thinking of relocating there myself.

And this is a deciding factor? WOW.

Why would you clean the roads now, they are about to get covered in an evil combination of snow, grit and salt for the next 6? months

I came out of the mall yesterday and couldnt spot my car for a few seconds. I was looking for a green one, only Id forgotten it was now a dirty grey/brown colour as they had just started to salt the roads here

not a deciding factor. I just want to know if it really is that bad out there...i am still planning to get a job out there anyway. I have driven and lived in snowy places...but i just want to double check.

I find the roads in Canada are generally poorer, but thats to be expected, there's an unbelievable distance of road to be maintained, to keep it pristine would simply be un-viable!

At least in the winter the many potholes are filled with snow/ice.

Crap roads are an almost universal feature of canada, the freeze thaw cycle and plough damage, plus large temerature variations and inability to do much with tarmac to repair them in the winter sees to that. As far as affecting quality of life goes its a non issue, or at least it should be?\

They tend to sweep all the crap off them in the late spring after it builds up over the winter, after they are pretty sure they wont be gritting for a while. I guess your friend wasnt here then.

Speaking for Calgary, the bad news is that they rely on Chinooks to clear the roads. The good news is that there are Chinooks.

The city of Edmonton generally clears the main roads of snow whenever needed, but they only occasionally do snow removal on the secondary roads - like those in subdivisions. It's not that big a deal since the snow gets packed down as cars drive over it. Edmonton gets less snow than most cities in central and eastern Canada, so they can manage okay with this policy.

The fact that they (in Edmonton) didn't remove the snow on all the roads everytime it snowed never really bothered me. When the snow melted and made the outside of my car really grimey - with sand & salt - that's when I got annoyed. I lived in Edmonton for 7 years and Red Deer for 8 years.

To add to this, I have heard that the roads in Edmonton are particularly bad atm cos they are having a problem recruiting enough contractors to grit once it has snowed.
I don't know if they have plans to get round this problem.

HTH

That used to be true of Calgary too, and I was perfectly satisfied with the level of service.

However, during and after the snowfalls that we had in Calgary a little while ago, the lack of snow clearing even on the main roads (Crowchild Trail, etc.) and on the downtown streets was absolutely shocking. It looked as if they had made no attempt to clear them -- none. That was the source of the facetious remarks in my previous post.

It could be that Woodstock62's explanation for the situation in Edmonton also explains what's going on (or not going on) in Calgary. Come to think of it, my husband heard that some Calgary hotels have shut down some of their floors because they cannot keep enough cleaning staff. All of that, of course, is related to that fact that the oil industry and other industries related to it are able to pay better and are attracting workers away from the retail and hospitality industries.

^^^ There certainly is a down side to the economic boom occurring in Alberta. I've been hearing about lots of poor service there in general. It's pretty bad that they're having trouble getting staff even to clear the roads - at least in Calgary.

Can't speak for Edm itself, but here in Sherwood Park, they are a bit hit and miss.
I suppose its down to the fact that we are having snow every couple of days at the mo, and they can't keep up with it.
Having said that, the main roads clear gradually with the amount of traffic on them anyway, its the streets in the housing sub-divisions that are a nightmare. Due to warmer temps the past few days, the compacted rock hard stuff has softened and its like driving in mashed potato.!

And i've given up washing my car !

I'm washing mine............in March.

Rich.

If you don't wash your car on a regular basis (especially during the winter), it may rust out on you.

The corrosion expert at my Uni was of the opinion it was best to wash the salt off in the spring and then get a nice layer of dust on it over the summer and then not wash it at all in the winter. The "salt free" dust keeps the winter crud away from the metal, and washing it in the winter only offers a fresh wet surface for the electrolytes to attack.

Looks like crap though and rubs off on clothing, so I usually cave in on the few days its warm enough in the winter to not to worry about creating a "carsicle". Sadly everyone else has the same idea on the warmer days and the lineups are crazy.

Dont wash it on a cold day....your doors and windows might freeze shut and your wipers could get ripped off.