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During a snow event like the one that's hitting the Okanagan at the moment, the City of Kelowna's Snow Removal people are hard at work. But if you happen to live in a small, flat cul-de-sac in some out of the way part of the city, you're going to have to be patient.
It's all about priorities. The City's Steve Bryans took a few minutes Wednesday to tell us about what happens with the crews when the snow is falling like this.
"We start on the main routes," said Bryans. "What we refer to as 'priority ones'." Those are roads like Glenmore, Springfield, Gordon etc.. Highways including 97 and 33 are a provincial responsibility. "Then we move to collectors," he explained. "Those are the roads going in and out of a neighbourhood." Examples of collectors are Ethel and Richter Streets. It's not until those are taken care of, that crews can get into the neighbourhood roads and cul de sacs, starting with the steeper ones. "The flat ones are the last ones actually," said Bryans with a sympathetic chuckle.
Kelowna's city crews were out starting late last night as the snow started to accumulate and it's been non-stop since then. "We'll continue around the clock he said. "We've got different shifts that will go on and we'll add to those shifts and it's supposed to snow right straight through to tomorrow morning," Bryans added.
Every storm is a little different but one thing is for certain. There will always be complaints. "Absolutely," he said, smiling. 'You've plowed my driveway' is the most common one, according to Bryans. "Yes, we will plow your driveway," he said. "It's a fact of life, I'm sorry."
The public is encouraged to park off the streets to give the plow trucks a chance to work. One thing that will not be getting in the way is concern over the snow removal budget. "No, right now we're real good," Bryans said. "We're in a brand new budget year!"
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