About 20 cm of snow fell overnight on the Tri-Cities, more at higher elevations, that put city crews to work on the roads early this morning (Jan. 6).
In order to understand the hard work behind the feat, Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West decided to get up early and hop in the passenger seat of a snow plow to witness first-hand the clearing of priority routes.
He posted several videos to his social media channels, explaining some crews began at 11 p.m. on Wednesday (Jan. 5) and worked through the night to plow major roads before the morning commute took full effect.
West toured along priority routes that ultimately took him into tighter local streets with several parked vehicles.
"A lot of skill and care to navigate side streets with cars parked on both sides," he explained.
Hitting north side PoCo! pic.twitter.com/jCSaOtKbc4
— Brad West (@BradWestPoCo) January 6, 2022
In Port Coquitlam, priority routes for snow-clearing are as follows:
FIRST PRIORITY
- Main routes
- Arterial roads
- Steep hills
- School zones (along steep hills)
SECOND PRIORITY
- Bus routes
- School zones (flat areas)
- Collector roads
THIRD PRIORITY
- Residential streets leading to subdivisions
- Industrial side streets
The videos West shared received an overwhelmingly positive response from the public, which then thanked city crews and the mayor for giving local residents that point-of-view.
"I must say, I don’t ever recall having a Mayor of our city provide updates the way you do, thank you Mr. Mayor West for all you do for Port Coquitlam," said one resident.
"Great job and thank you for having them do my street before 5 [a.m.] this morning," wrote another commenter.
"Thank you Brad West and especially the crews out working in the early early morning hours! Thank you for making our commute much safer," wrote another.
Environment Canada is calling for at least five more centimetres of snow during its winter storm warning, which remains in effect for Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra.
The national service is also predicting heavy rain to fall in the amount of 30 to 50 mm by tomorrow (Jan. 7), which, on top of melting snow, may create slippery road conditions and water pooling.
Winds could gust up to 50 km/h across the Tri-Cities before the weekend.
"Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve," an Environment Canada statement reads.
"Rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots will become icy, slippery and hazardous."
On Dec. 28, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart got out in the community as a volunteer snow angel himself in using his own equipment to plow snow.
Using his own snowblower, he took care of his neighbours' sidewalks after finishing his own, as well as that of a local park.
