Kelowna crews battle major snow storm

The city had almost 90 crew on the roads Wednesday trying to make a dent in a storm system that threatened to dump over 20 centimeters by the time it’s over.

As always, Priority 1 routes, such as Gordon Drive and Enterprise Way were the focus, followed by Priority 2, so-called collector routes, such as Richter Street, bus routes and school zones.

Highway 97 (Harvey Avenue) and Highway 33 are the responsibility of the province.

Geert Bos, the city’s infrastructure operations manager, said typical residential areas which fall into the Priority 3 category get seen to later.

“A reminder for everybody, once it stops snowing that’s when the clock starts,” Bos explained regarding response times. “Eight hours for P1s, 12 hours for P2s and up to 48 hours for P3 routes.”

Snow clearing crews were out around 3 a.m. Wednesday and 15 cm had fallen by as early as 10 a.m.

Crews had been at work since Sunday pre-treating the road surface with brine and ensuring they have a full supply of 3,000 tons of sand in the public works yard.

Speaking to the inevitable complaints they deal with from the public, Bos said they start getting those from residential streets around six to eight hours after the snow storm ends.

But he reminded the public crews are often still embroiled in P1 plowing for that all-important first eight hours.

The temporary parking ban on snow routes comes into effect midnight on Wednesday night.

The huge effort to get on top of the big storm doesn’t come cheap, at $150,000 a day at the moment, according to Bos. That cost rises further if large scale snow removal is needed.

He said people will notice crews piling up snow in the centre median on some downtown streets because it’s easier to remove if the snow keeps up. After a break on Thursday, more snow is expected Friday and Saturday.

Also, a team of ten are dedicated to all cul-de-sacs in the city because if that snow isn’t cleared quickly those streets can become impassable. And a team is also assigned exclusively to the transit routes to ensure bus pull-outs are cleared.

For Bos, it’s important for the public to understand the human effort that’s going into the snow clearance, and he said most do.

“The average plow driver is probably behind the wheel for about 12 hours per shift. Be patient with them, they’re doing the best they can. We’ve given them the best equipment, we’ve trained them… they care a whole lot about what they do.”