If the snow keeps coming at a frequency of more than a one week cycle, they will eventually lose track of where they last left off.

Of course, as long as we do not get more than 12.499 cm we won’t have to worry since that can just keep on lying on all those priority and other routes where the previous snow was removed and they can continue with the schedule established after the last snowfall.

But, if it snows 1,5 or more, then they have to restart and those areas not done yet will have to suffer with 20 + 12.5+ cm …. driving streets with rutted roads and a subsequent snow fall of some significance is always fun.

I appreciate getting the roads cleared, but I have to say lately I can not believe the amount of wasted time, equiptment , manpower and money that I have observed….if this has been going on all winter …no wonder it costs so much for snow removal….
I am not going to complain too much for fear we get even less snow removal service.

I guess you guys could do much better.

What a stupid comment, polar7018!!! Where have you ever lived other than PG that has snow as PG has?

I lived in Ottawa and Toronto for decades and know what the snow clearing is like in southern Ontario and how it is done. I know it can be done. NMG, who lives in Ottawa now knows it can be done, and not even cost as much per unit measure as it does in PG.

Have to agree with Gus. We have a serious problem when it comes to clearing snow, not the least of which is the huge area that has to be looked after.

Running all this equipment out in the morning, and returning it to the yard at night, etc has to effect the costs. I understand that we have some mobile fueling, however it seems we need some contractors to look after some of the outlying areas.

Furthermore just because they have a snow removal plan in place doesn’t mean that it is the most effective.

When you consider that one area gets plowed 2 or 3 times because the snow exceeded 12cm, and another area did not get plowed because they started over, you have a problem. Since when does my taxes for snow removal mean that I don’t get plowed while others do??? If your paying taxes for a service you are entitled to the service.

They didn’t plow this week in my area before garbage pick up and it didn’t seem to effect the pick up, so just how effective is this part of the plan?. Furthermore it seems there is a hell of a lot of time and money spent on plowing the City parking lots, and Municipal buildings etc; again, why do they continually get preferential services, while others get nothing.

We need a more effective plan.

I wonder what would happen if the city hall parking lot was left until AFTER the last street was cleared. That would make me happy and probably sharpen up the plan.

Letting snow build up to a certain depth before removing came back to bit us in the ***. Just let the people who where hired to do the job do it their way. How can anyone who has not spent 10 seconds in machine call the shots. crazy thinking in my opinion.

I don`t get why snow clearing is such a problem around here.
The city just needs a procedure to follow and simply follow it. Common sense rules but right now all they do is go round and round in circles accomplishing nothing.I blame the leadership on this. There are many cities like ours that are much more successful with clearing so why not share their input for success.
Get your s$%# together!!!

gus, I lived in stewart for 27 years, don’t tell me about moving snow.

“I don`t get why snow clearing is such a problem around here”

==================================

I honestly think that part of the problem is that people at the City (and some people living in PG for that matter) are stubborn and believe that as “BC’s Northern Capital”, no one can tell them anything about anything related to winter.

It’s as though they truly believe that PG has the worst winter climate on the planet, that they are a leader in being a “winter city” and that their approach is the best you can find.

They would be wrong on all three counts.

IMHO, this is not an equipment operator problem. It’s an attitude, resourcing and management problem.

“gus, I lived in stewart for 27 years, don’t tell me about moving snow.”

Stewart ….. hop on your snowmobile … or stay home, or help plow … or just go to Hyder and sit in a bar…..problem solved.

Villager snow clearing is one thing, town is another, small city another, metro another still.

If you lived in Stewart, and you think that is PG as far as needs for transportation goes, then you do not understand

NMG …. while stopping at Maitland and Erindale a couple of hours ago waiting for the lights to turn, along comes a grader in the left lane with belly blade down and angled to the right lane with the side blade down as well to catch the throw-off from the belly blade and deposit it in the right lane …. there was a sanding truck with both its blades down pushing the snow from both lanes onto the side …. they were travelling at 50kph, the same as the traffic flow ….. it had snowed about 5 cm by that time……

Want to get it done quickly …. work fast and often and travel at traffic speed …..

I don’t understand how on earth front end loaders and their constant lifting up of snow on the street corners and then simply dumping it back again improves anything! They come by in the middle of the night to do this, wake up everybody and nothing has changed, really!

At least one would think that dumping it into a truck and then hauling it away makes sense…

I know that snow clearing is not the only thing the city is very stubborn about, but that is a subject for another day!

It says….. The plan was to finish clearing the red zone last night ahead of today’s garbage collection in that area and then move into the green zone today. Supervisor of Street Operations Mick Jones says “over the weekend we will try to finish up the green zone and any streets in the red sector that may not have been completed before Friday’s garbage pickup.”

Looks to me that they are beat before they`re even started.

I agree with Palopu. When some areas gets plowed 2 or 3 times because they are high priority, and other areas do not get plowed at all because the crews had to start over, you have a problem. How can I get out of my residential area when they do not get plowed while waiting for another do over.
If your paying taxes for a service you are entitled to the service within a reasonable time.

what about the f’in yellow zone which has garbage pickup yesterday. You are always putting the red zone ahead of the yellow zone after doing the main arterys. Who the hell on counsel or works on city admin lives in the red zone?

I think what bothers me the most is the fact that I pay one of the highest taxes in my area (over $4000 a year) and my street has been plowed/graded three times this winter. Even the bus route which is just around the corner takes forever to get done and when they do it, they miss my street completely which is one more street over. The ruts have been horrible and has even made people slide right onto the lawns of others. I’m not saying I should get preferential treatment but come on…keep my neighbourhood plowed and safe to drive on!

Hey Polar, I left Stewart one afternoon and the snowflakes were 6 inches in diameter, they were expecting a 5 foot snowfall before midnight and a 7 foot snowfall before morning. Snow tunnels to front doors of houses. But hey, it’s a small community. Compared to Stewart, the clearing here is sad.