The City of West Kelowna says its snow and ice control crews are ready for what could be a busy weekend.
As a forecast cold front moves in Friday, snow mixed with rain and ice is forecast for the Okanagan region which means road maintenance crews are ready to go.
Raod crews are committed to maintains winter roads by:
- Placing brine on designated routes prior to snowfall.
- Focusing first on arterial roads, such as Boucherie, Glenrosa, Shannon Lake and Westlake to ensure that the most traveled roads are passable for emergency crews and priority services, delivery of essential goods and mass transit.
- Focusing secondly on collector roads, school bus and other transit routes and steep neighbourhood accesses such as Auburn, Elliott, Gellatly, Ross and Thacker.
- Moving thirdly to local streets, cul-de-sacs, etc.
"Even with crews conducting road and sidewalk maintenance. Motorists and pedestrians should move with utmost caution," said officials in a press release.
"Motorists should drive with suitable tires, use headlights, reduce speeds to match conditions and leave plenty of breaking space."
Officials have also released a list of tasks residents can carry out to help road crews:
- Park off street during an event and for up to 48 hours after the snowfall ends and until snow is cleared.
- On street parking makes plowing difficult and sometimes impossible. Incidents have occurred where plows could not pass parked cars to clear streets.
- Do not shovel snow from driveways and sidewalks back onto the street.
- This also slows plow drivers’ work. Pile snow on your property and keep storm drains and hydrants as clear as possible.
- Shovel snow to the left (as you face your home) so plows drag less snow across accesses.
- Sorry, passing plows direct snow to the right and do leave windrows.
- Remove snow and ice from sidewalks and walkways bordering your property.
- The city removes snow and ice from designated sidewalks, primarily adjacent to civic buildings, parks and pedestrian accesses.
To view the roads priority map, click here.
