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Edmonton looks dirty to out-of-town visitors. Its residential intersections are dangerous with glare ice and gravel. Seniors with walkers get trapped by the ruts and windrows.

There are alternatives. This doesn’t have to be just part of a winter city, said Doug Jones, Edmonton’s new head of city operations, who is setting up the largest rethink of the city’s snow and ice policy in years.

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“Our practises are very vehicle-centric and also the climate has changed,” said Jones. “Now we get these mild spells … (The snow pack) turns to solid ice. You have to adjust your practices.”

For Jones and Eduardo Sosa, director of roadway maintenance, pretty much everything is on the table.

When they go to a meeting of city council in June, they plan to outline what it would take to plow all residential neighbourhoods down to bare pavement, how Edmonton could scale up to clear walking paths throughout the park system, and what it would take to get bike lanes cleared quickly.