Salters and Sanders Out, but Graders Still on Hold
Prince George, B.C. – The first real blast of winter weather has hit Prince George, leaving in its wake, about 4 centimeters of snow in most areas of the City.
Director of Public Works, Bill Gaal says there are seven trucks on the roads, salting and sanding the known trouble spots, “Graders and snow control wouldn’t happen until we have 75 millimeters (7.5 cm) accumulation on our priority ones or twos, or 120 millimeters (12 cm) on our residential streets.”
There is more on the way says Environment Canada Meteorologist Jennifer Hay “You should be ok tomorrow, but there is a significant system coming through Wednesday and Thursday”. She expects that significant system to dump enough snow to top the threshold marks.
It will be the first time the City’s new snow removal plan will be put into action. The new plan also means weather conditions are being monitored from a variety of locations so it is possible some areas of the City ( like the Hart) which receive more snow than others, could see graders and plows deployed if the snow level tops those thresholds. This afternoon in the Hart, the accumulation was close to 7 cm, nearly twice the amount measured in low lying areas.
The new plan calls for crews to have the priority one and two routes cleared within 48 hours of the end of a snow event and to have residential streets cleared within 72 hours of the completion of priority areas 1 and 2.
Priority 1 :
- Main arterial roads
- Downtown Central Business District
- Priority hills
- Hospital District
- School Zones
- Civic Facilities entrances, priority parking lots, and pathways
Priority 2:
All bus routes that are not main arterial roads, and all commercial/industrial roads
Priority 3: ( to be completed within 72 hours AFTER priorities 1 and 2 are complete)
- Residential roads and lanes
- All remaining Civic Facilities parking lots
- Select Park facilities, parking lots, trails
Priority 1 and 2 have the same deadline, but Gaal says priority 2 will be dealt with as soon as priority one has been done and can be completed within the specified time frame, “We have confidence that with our compliment of equipment this year we can meet that policy.”
The equipment on hand this year includes:
City Owned-
- 7 graders
- 7 loaders
- 4 sidewalk machines
- 8 sander plow trucks
On Retainer/rented
- 5 graders
- 10 loaders
- 16 dump trucks (available for night shift)
- 2 bulldozers ( for the snow dump)
The snow removal budget for 2014 had a balance of about $1.3 million dollars, an amount that was expected to be about $400 thousand short of the typical need for November and December. The relatively snow free month of November may have given the City a bit of a financial break and the budget prediction may not be as bad as expected.
The City’s Snow operations Map, outlining priority areas, can be accessed here.
Comments
Hey Bill – according to the forecast, its going to be -20 in a few days and this will all be frozen into solid ruts regardless of your “magic number”. Have we learned NOTHING?
Tomorrows headline.. Snow removal budget is spent…
For comparison sake, here are the standards in Ottawa:
Road type description/when clearing begins/time to clear from end of accumulation
Freeways, most arterials and most major collector roads/as accumulation begins/2-4 hours
Most sidewalks in downtown core/2.5 cm/4 hours
Most minor collector roads/5 cm/6 hours
Most primary sidewalks/5 cm/12 hours
Most residential sidewalks/5 cm/16 hours
Most residential roads/7 cm/10 hours
Most lanes/10 cm/16 hours
Most intersections and pedestrian crossings/clean-up/16 hours
Most Bus stops/clean-up/24 hours
So residential streets here could be cleared three times sooner than Victoria Street, Queesway or Ospika. Sidewalks here would be cleared before PG even thinks of getting the equipment out.
I think Mr. Gaal should go back to the drawing board . . .
4pm and Foothills still not plowed. Only one lane open going up the hill and the other lane full of slush. City bus slid in the ditch at Croft Road this morning. Tow truck trying to pull it out and blocking the road for a long time. Now that’s performance. What’s up Bill?
Whiners and complainers above. Man its going to be one long winter. If people want to compare communities maybe find one in similar size to compare to. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to post about Ottawa, a city that has what almost a million people. Prince George could be like a suburb of Ottawa and a city that size has its BS together so of course it will have a better snow removal plan than ours.
Why was the city not out early in the AM with a sand truck to sand the hills at least on the Bus route. I would like to know what it cost to get that City Bus out of the ditch. Wasted tax dollars.
Although I’m sure Gaal has some leeway he is sending out the equipment according to the guidelines set by mayor and council as a money saving effort.
When the first snowfall happens when the temperature is hovering around zero the roads are going to be slippery, it’s a no brainer, drive accordingly.
One possible reason why the city wants a nice thick layer of ice on the roads is to protect the crappy patch jobs in the pavement, worried they will find half of them in the snow dumps next spring.
Come on Lyn…get the plows out…you can do it.
I measured the snow in my driveway, on the Hart, at 4 pm today and it amounted to 5 inches (12.7 cm). Far more than the amount forecast. We have seen no snow removal equipment in the area. I also live in an elementary school zone.
Talk is cheap. Time for action!!!
I had no problem getting around today, and I didn’t have to drive behind a grader and a sander to do it.
This is Prince George. When did we all become such wimps when it comes to snow on the roads? Probably around the time everyone forgot how to drive in it.
JB- Try telling that to the Bus driver. Have you ever driven a Bus in slippery conditions? Not the same as driving a car or AWD.
Don’t get me wrong JB, I had no problems getting around today lol. I just don’t think leaving it to pack and freeze 5″ thick is either cost saving or efficient.
My residential road has been plowed and sanded. Hold on to your little pantaloons the trucks are coming. Sheesh.
Wow, when I moved here 13 years ago, I used to Brag So much about PG’s snow removal ….. I told people what a great place it was because as soon as snow started falling, you saw plows everywhere, it was like the snow never got a chance to hit the ground ……. My, how things have changed……..
Hwy 16 west was horrendous this afternoon/evening. Where was the sand and salt?
JB. This happens every year with the first snow fall. There are lots of new drivers who may be the first time or second time they have driven in these conditions. I know you are probably one of the best drivers we have and we could only pray to have your skills behind the wheel but alas we don’t. This is the time of year where we all get our winter legs back. The city should know this as well and spend our tax dollars to protect the safety of the tax payers by having the equipement out before the main traffic hits the roads. Proactive is the key when it comes to safety.
Wow! Amazing! I saw a plow truck on Foothills yesterday with its plow down! Others were doing the usual sanding on top of the snow.
This morning should be interesting with all the wet roads sincerely iced up now and icy ruts in the slush.
Sorry but I would be very embarrassed to be doing that kind of work.
Posted on Tuesday, November 25, 2014 @ 5:28 AM by Give more
Wow! Amazing! I saw a plow truck on Foothills yesterday with its plow down! Others were doing the usual sanding on top of the snow.
This morning should be interesting with all the wet roads sincerely iced up now and icy ruts in the slush.
Sorry but I would be very embarrassed to be doing that kind of work.
——–
No one ever said the city was competent.
Whaaaaa…..its late November and it snowed a skiff. Whaaaaaaaa……..sounds like some people should park their vehicles until summer.
Turn your lights on! And for pete’s sakes, if you’re one of those people whose comfort speed down the Hart this morning was 50 kmh, get into the right lane! Better yet, stay home; you’re a menace out there. I have to give my head a shake when I see these idiots fishtailing down the hill while jamming on the brakes.
Wahh, we are worried about people’s lives, wahh how dare we want clean roads to drive, waahhh. if we could only be as heartless as you .
editor’s note:
This comment has been edited to remove the name calling.
Trucks were having a tough time climbing Peden Hill last night. Glare ice and no sand or salt. Wasn’t Hwy 16 upgraded to a class A or 1 recently? Haven’t seen any changes in winter sanding/salting yet. The only thing I’ve noticed are the fancy “move over and let others pass” signs on our 3 lanes.
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