This B.C. ski resort town has never had a good snow removal plan — but that's about to change
A B.C. ski resort town that relies on winter to bring in tourists has never had a dedicated snow removal plan which prioritizes which routes are plowed first — but they're working on it.
Fernie, B.C., where more than 300 centimetres of snow falls each year, and which thrives on winter activities like skiing, snowboarding and winter cycling, has been operating under a 20 year-old snow removal policy which goes from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, without taking into consideration which routes have the highest level of traffic or are key for accessing core services.
When a minimum of five centimetres of snow falls, they do a "full plow" of the city; roads are plowed as it snows and there are no priority streets identified.
"Everything that we do about the snow and ice removal right now isn't really serving the needs of our community," Fernie Mayor Ange Qualizza told Daybreak South host Chris Walker.
"[It] leaves our city infrastructure vulnerable because that's a priority route that isn't getting done on day one."
During a multi-day storm, the community dips into what Qualizza describes as a "day one pattern" where the same geographic areas are targeted for snow removal, while prime corridors and school routes may continue to not be served.
The current process requires city staff to put in a lot of overtime, which takes away from other maintenance, such as fixing potholes and sweeping streets. By mid-February, staff had already done so much overtime this winter, that the rest is now voluntary.
"So on a Saturday and Sunday, if we get 15 centimetres of snow … our staff has to come out of their own volition. We can't ask them to come out," Qualizza said.
Starting this week, the City of Fernie will be piloting a new way of doing snow removal; it'll prioritize snow removal by five categories of use instead of by geographic area. For example, business areas and schools will be prioritized for service over local residential areas.
Among other changes, driving lanes on all roads will be cleared one day after snowfall and the number of sidewalks that will be cleared for pedestrians will also be increased.
As well, streets will no longer be centre plowed outside of the downtown core. The city said this will affect some businesses outside of downtown, but it will not affect most of the city where the practice is to split plow.
After giving residents an idea of what the new plan would look like, the city will host public engagement sessions to find out what works and what doesn't.
"Every time local government does anything new or different, it's met with friction," Qualizza said.
"We can already feel some of that uncertainty coming, but we're committed to going through the process because right now it's not really defensible how we're using city resources to move snow and ice."
If residents are satisfied with the new way the city is dealing with snow and ice removal, the plan will be implemented next winter.
