By Vanessa Ybarra

Kamloops crews working overtime clearing main routes

Feb 9, 2017 | 12:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been a busy day for city crews in Kamloops, who are working around the clock trying to keep up with the snowfall from the past 24 hours.

While Kamloops hasn’t been hit as hard as some areas of the Interior there have been numerous car accidents in the city and flight delays at the airport.

Crews have been working hard to clear arterial roads, and likely won’t get to side-streets until tomorrow.

While most of us aren’t too impressed with the latest blast of winter not everyone is complaining.

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Forget the gym, shoveling snow is the new winter workout.

“I’ve been shoveling for about two hours now,” said Dufferin resident Caryn Thomson.

Spring may be six weeks away, but you’d never know it looking around Kamloops neighborhoods. 

More than 11 centimeters has blanketed the city so far in its second significant snowfall of the winter season. 

Public work crews were out in full force throughout the day plowing, sanding and clearing sidewalks trying to keep up with mother nature. 

“This morning we had eight to 10 trucks out, two graders and a sidewalk plow fully-staffed out trying to get ahead of the excessive snowfall we’ve had,” said Glen Farrow with the City of Kamloops.  “In the middle of a snowstorm, we focus on arterial routes, keeping them cleared down to asphalt.”

The city budgets $1.6 million per year for snow clearing, not nearly enough to plow every road in the city. 

Crews are working 24-7, some even logging overtime hours, to keep main routes clear.

“A month and a half in, we’ve probably spent a quarter of our budget, which isn’t alarming,” said Farrow. “We aren’t really spending much of that budget between April and October.” 

Regardless, where there’s snow there’s accidents.

Slippery road conditions flipped a truck over into the ditch on the Trans-Canada Highway near the Yellowhead overpass Thursday afternoon.

Luckily, the driver walked away unharmed.

Between the never-ending snow, numerous accidents and delays at the Kamloops Airport Thursday morning, it’s enough to make anyone go back to bed.

Then there’s always that one neighbor who embraces the hysteria.

“It’s kind of fun to do,” said Lance Regan, who spent the morning clearing snow off his neighbor’s sidewalks. “I don’t mind the snow but I’m looking forward to the spring.