It really might be spring in the city, as City of Edmonton road maintenance crews are turning their attention to clearing gravel and sand from city streets.

Crews have their work cut out for them this year, as more sand that usual was used on major thoroughfares, to combat the significant snowfall.

Bob Dunford, the City of Edmonton’s director of Roadway Maintenance said more than 184,000 tonnes of sand was spread on city streets in the last six months, due to the snow and several freeze and thaw cycles – and the weather helped put the major job of cleaning up the sand behind schedule.

“Although the campaign has been delayed due to a prolonged snow season, we’ve been working on many arterial and collector roadways for a few weeks,” Dunford said in a press release. “Now we’re ready to get into Edmonton neighbourhoods.”

It’s not soon enough for some drivers – especially those who have already had to get their windshields repaired because of rock chips and cracking caused by stones kicked up by other drivers.

“As the temperature rises, it’s like someone flicks the light switch on and we start getting busy,” Crystal Glass regional manager Mike Phillips said.

Crystal Glass, and other glass repair shops said they could see between 15 to 20 customers daily who need a windshield repair – it’s a job that can cost up to $300, if the glass needs to be replaced.

“It does impair the vision, and it does weaken the structure of the glass,” Phillips said.

Drivers of two-wheeled vehicles are looking forward to the sand being cleared as well – the gravel and sand is a serious safety concern for motorcyclists.

“You put your feet down and then it’s like ball bearings, your feet just roll away,” Motorcycle rider Ignac Lantos said.

For cyclists, where the gravel often ends up after crews pass through is a concern.

“The debris gets pushed to the side, where cyclists are expected to ride,” Executive Director of the Edmonton Bicycle Commuter’s Society Christopher Chan said. “The gravel is not a solid surface, and when you’ve only got two wheels you need both of those wheels for balance and control.”

The city said it could take between eight and nine weeks to clean the sand away from the city’s 4,700 kilometres of roads – residential streets, alleyways, boulevards and major roads.

Edmontonians are also being asked to do their part by picking up litter and debris before street sweepers pass through their area.

The city said signs will be posted before street sweepers go through neighbourhoods, and a schedule is available online – residents are asked to move their vehicles off of city streets when possible to allow sweepers to clear the entire roadway.

Much of what is picked up in the street cleaning cycle is recycled – the city recovers about two-thirds of what is used during winter, and processes about eighty percent of it for use during the next winter.

The city expects the whole cleanup job to be completed by mid-June.

With files from Ashley Molnar