Blowing snow is not the only obstruction impacting the view of Calgary drivers in the days following winter storms.
Cracked windshields are on the rise and business is brisk for glass repair shops.
Owners of glass shops say when snow hits the city, they can barely keep up with demand to replace windshields and repair rock chips, and they are thanking the city for the business.
A few winters ago, the city moved to a smaller gravel mix designed to provide the best traction. The mixture is sharp and can cause deep dings in windshields.
The city is proud of its new gravel mixture. Officials say the particles are smaller than those of previous gravel mixes and it provides the best possible traction.
Road crews take extra steps to ensure the gravel does not become a projectile.
“When this mixture is wet, it actually sticks to the road,” says Jennifer Thompson-Goldberg with the City of Calgary Roads. “We spray this on the roads we with a calcium chloride mixture so that it sticks.”
This is the third winter the city has used the smaller gravel mixture.
