Here's how the city of Ottawa will clear 20 to 30 cm of snow

City of Ottawa officials are warning it will "take some time to clean up" from the first significant winter storm of the season.

A snowfall warning is in effect for the city of Ottawa, calling for 20 to 30 cm of snow to fall by Saturday morning. The city says "all available resources will be deployed" to respond to the storm.

• Here is a look at the school bus cancellations and school closures for Ottawa and eastern Ontario

"We're going through right now and making sure all of our equipment and materials are ready," Bryden Denyes, the city's program manager for road services, told CTV Morning Live.

"Our staff are on call and our supervisors are monitoring the weather. We'll have staff ready to respond no matter what time it starts."

When the snow starts to fall, snowplows will focus on the main routes, especially Friday morning.

"There will be some heavy, heavy snow in that period of time, so we'll be making sure all of our priority roads have equipment on it, priority sidewalks and our winter cycling network for that a.m. peak period," Denyes said.

According to the city of Ottawa's Maintenance Quality Standards, sidewalks and roads are cleared based on their usage volume and priority level.

Snow clearing begins on major roads, arterial roads, major collector roads, and priority sidewalks at the start of accumulation, according to the city.

Denyes says the city will begin to focus on residential streets when the storm moves out of the region, likely on Saturday morning.

"Depending on the storm and how much snow we get for accumulation wise and when it starts to taper off, we could look at getting into our residential streets on Saturday, I would say Saturday morning," Denyes said.

"It all depends on the storm and when it ends, but it will be definitely be at the end of the storm on Saturday."

Here is a look at when snow clearing is done on roads and sidewalks during the storm.

At the start of accumulation:

• Highway 174, the Transitway, major roads and arterials.
• After the last snowflake has fallen, these routes may take 2 to 4 hours to complete.   

2.5 centimetres accumulation:

• Sidewalks in the downtown core and the winter cycling network
• After the last snowflake has fallen, these routes may take up to 4 hours to complete 

5 centimetres accumulation:

• Secondary roads and minor collectors such as Wall Road, Dovercourt Avenue, Donald Street, Springbrook Drive, etc.
• After the last snowflake has fallen, these routes may take up to 6 hours to complete 

5 centimetres accumulation:

• Residential sidewalks
• After the last snowflake has fallen, these routes may take 12 to 16 hours to complete 

7 or more centimetres of accumulation

• Residential roads and lanes such as Billings Bridge, Waverley Street, Smith Road, etc.
• After the last snowflake has fallen, these routes may take 10 to 16 hours to complete.

Denyes is asking motorists to stay home during the storm to assist with the cleanup.

"The less traffic out on the roads definitely helps us move through our operations faster, and we can get it done safer."