Road crews are continuing to work to clear snow from the streets of Calgary as a snow route parking ban has been enacted effective Monday evening.

As of 6:00 p.m., all vehicles must be removed from designated snow routes to allow the clearing of snow from residential streets. Vehicles left in areas marked with a blue sign with a white snowflake are subject to enforcement, up to and including a tag and tow.

The city says that the purpose of the ban is to help crews clear Priority 2 routes as quickly and efficiently as possible. The ban is expected to remain in place for 72 hours.

As for the weather’s effect on the roads in Calgary, police say they were called to 150 crashes on Sunday, including a 20 car pileup on Deerfoot Trail. Between 4:00 p.m. Sunday and 4:00 p.m. Monday, there were 250 crashes including 20 crashes involving injuries.

Work crews are concentrating their efforts on the Priority 1 routes, the streets that carry over 20,000 vehicles per day.

The Priority 2 routes, those that carry between 5,000 and 20,000, will be plowed after those are complete.

Officials say crews have been working around the clock since the snow began.

“With significant accumulations of snow anticipated for the rest of the day and tomorrow, the parking ban will help us get a head start on bus routes and connector roads,” said Bill Biensch, Roads Maintenance Manager, on Sunday.

Biensch also says everyone needs to slow down while on the road in these conditions.

“We've been able to keep the snow to a very thin snowpack. We are just asking Calgary to slow down a bit and understand it is winter driving conditions. They just need to be able to slow down a bit [and] leave some space between vehicles.”

According to the Calgary Parking Authority, parking lots will be made available overnight at no cost to assist vehicle owners during parking bans.

For snow route maps and more information about the City of Calgary’s snow clearing strategy, visit Calgary.ca/snow.

A snowfall warning is still in place in the City of Calgary and many other areas of southern Alberta.

Environment Canada says the city will continue to see a long period of snow, with up to 15 to 25 cm accumulation in areas.

The agency advises people to adjust their driving habits accordingly and be aware that all driving areas will be more difficult to navigate in the snowy conditions.

CTV Weather Specialist Kevin Stanfield says Calgary has seen between 10 and 13 cm of snow in most of the city.

Forecast show another three to six centimetres is possible on Monday.

For our full forecast, visit our weather page.