Last week's double-record-setting snowfall has some residents questioning the city's snow clearing performance.
Between Wednesday and Thursday last week, 28 centimetres of snow fell in Prince George, setting new records for Nov. 16 and Nov. 17. Prince George resident Rudy Vanbattum said as of Wednesday this week, the snow still hadn't been cleared on his street, the intersection of Quinn Street and Riley Drive.
"I can understand three to four days, but I can't understand seven days," Vanbattum said. "Our back alleys were done, but out main streets weren't done. Even our school hasn't been done."
Vanbattum is a senior citizen and said he drives a smaller car, which makes getting out of the house difficult when the roads are covered in packed and rutted snow.
"I've got a small car and it's being rattled apart. You drive down Radcliffe [Drive] all the way down Quinn it's just ruts," he said. "I don't want... to go through that all the time."
Ferguson Lake Road resident Cathy Donovan said she and her common-law husband are new to Prince George and were shocked by the lack of snow clearing.
"I'm from New Brunswick and we came here from Fort Nelson. [But] I've never seen the likes of this in my life," Donovan said. "It's the worst I've seen in my life. Fort Nelson had the roads cleared by the time you went to work in the morning."
Donovan said she and her husband are used to winter driving conditions and have studded winter tires on their two vehicles.
"My common-law husband missed a day of work... he could not even get his truck on the road. It was one lane for three days," she said. "It's a twisty, turny road. There are no street lights, so it's pitch black - you can't see another car coming until you come around the corner."
Donovan said she hopes she doesn't hear about someone dying before the city does something about the snow removal.
"I am a mother of five. What would you tell my children if I got in an accident and was killed in a head-on collision? Would your answer be 'the budget doesn't allow us to make the road safe'? I wonder if it is going to take a fatality for the road to be plowed."
City responds
City transportation manager Mick Jones said the city's snow-clearing policy sets the priorities and order in which streets are cleared.
"We have 670 kilometres of roads that we clear, and it takes time," said Jones.
Some of the most common complaints he hears are over clearing driveway entrances, he said.
"We clear driveways only in curb and gutter areas. We open driveways to provide reasonable access - that doesn't mean they're clear of snow to the pavement from end to end. It's based on emergency access - if there was an emergency, an emergency vehicle could get in," Jones said.
"We do not open driveways on anything plowed with a truck plow. Rural areas have a rural level of service."
If time allows, loaders will be sent to clear driveways on rural streets, he added.
It is against city bylaws for residents to push snow from driveways - including windrows left by truck plows - onto the street.
"That is the biggest nightmare we face. You get buddy who has a quad or truck with a blade, and they push all the snow from their driveway onto the street," Jones said. "You have to deal with snow from private property on private property."
Another common complaint is when vehicles are left parked on the street, he said.
"We do tow and we do ticket... but people ask if we can come back [to clear around a parked car] and we just can't," he said.
The city has a priority system for clearing the roads that is not based on budgetary demands.
"The priorities don't change. Downtown, Fifth [Avenue] and 15th [Avenue] are done the first night. They can't be done during the day - the traffic volumes are too high," Jones said. "Then we're going the arterial collectors, bus routes and problem hills. Residential snow clearing starts the second day after the snow stops."
Residential streets are cleared using the same five colour-coded zones used for residential garbage pickup, Jones said. Snow clearing is done a day in advance of garbage pickup, he said.
All five zones can typically be cleared in four days, Jones added, but that can change depending on the weather.
"If we're halfway through clearing the entire city and we get another snowfall, we start over again with the priorities," Jones said. "Depending on the timing, it may be a while before we get to an area because we always go in order of the garbage zones."
The city operates a fleet of eight sand/plow trucks, five loaders, five graders, three sidewalk clearing machines, a snow blower/loader and a loader plow. They work two shifts a day, six days a week, and can be called in on Sundays in a serious storm.
In addition, the city contracts eight loaders, five graders and 20 dump trucks from private contractors when needed.
City transit and projects manager Dave Bradshaw said the city's transit department works with the transportation division to clear snow from bus stops and bus shelters.
"Once the road is cleared, the sidewalks are cleared and the loaders come and clear out the snow at the bus stops," Bradshaw said. "[But] sometimes the timing isn't always there."
If snow shelters or bus stops are not accessible because of snow, transit users can report it to the city's snow line by calling 250-561-7525, Bradshaw said.
"I've asked transportation to go out and clear stops in several cases," he said. "Bus routes are listed under the priorities for snow clearing."
Clearing and maintenance of the city's bus shelters and bus benches is primarily contracted to Pattison Outdoor Advertising, Bradshaw added.
