KAMLOOPS — “The city wasn’t ready.”
“I didn’t see a single plow.”
“They forgot about us.”
Glen Farrow has heard all the derisive comments in his years heading up the City of Kamloops snow-clearing fleet.
Even so, he remains steadfast in his response — his team is given certain service level targets by council and the plow operators hit them consistently. How soon you see a city plow on your street after the snow starts falling depends on where that street is located and how much traffic it accommodates.
“There’s a big difference between when you get your street serviced after an event,” Farrow told CFJC Today Tuesday (Nov. 29). “We’re targeting 36 hours after the event — and usually that’s what we’re hitting — but at times we can get on certain local roads much quicker than that.”
“If you live on a local road, on a cul-de-sac bulb away from a main and you haven’t seen a plow for a few days right in the thick of an event, that’s appropriate based on our service levels that are outlined,” he continued. “Whereas, if you live on a main arterial such as Barnhartvale Road, Fortune Drive, Columbia Street, Summit Drive, and you don’t see a plow? That would definitely be concerning.”
Environment Canada has issued a snowfall warning for much of the province Tuesday. A major snow event is forecast to dump 10 to 15 centimetres on Kamloops before Wednesday morning — more on higher elevations.
Farrow says plows will be out as soon as there is snow to plow.
“For a month now, we have been on shift,” said Farrow. “We have 24-hour coverage, right around the clock. We do have all of our materials, we have all of our trucks, they all have blades, they all have sanders in them — so we definitely are prepared.”
Early-season snow events this fall presented major issues for Kamloops drivers, with wet snow and slush freezing as the sun went down and the temperature dropped below zero. This week’s snow event won’t come with the same hazards as temperatures are expected to stay well below the freezing mark for the entire week.
“When it’s a consistent temperature like this, it should be full steam ahead for our crews in battling that snow,” said Farrow. “What we won’t see in this event is that constant freeze-thaw cycle as we go through. Rather, this is going to be a deep freeze locked in for a little while here, still.”
Motorists and residents are urged to give snow-clearing crews plenty of space and, most of all, exercise patience.
