After being buried in snow to end 2025, the City of Dawson Creek spent double what it had budgeted to plow the seemingly never-ending snowfall.
“When we were preparing the agenda, we were waist-deep in snow. So, I wanted to bring some information on what we spent in the month of December on snow plowing and snow removal, because it was an exceptional month,” said Kevin Henderson, the chief administrative officer at the city of Dawson Creek.
City crews worked alongside contractors to plow and haul snow from the city’s 220 lane kilometres. The city spent just over $450,000 on clearing the roads — a figure that includes both plowing and hauling, after the region received 142 per cent of its usual December snowfall.
“‘Is that a lot?’ you might say – well, it is,” the city’s CAO told the council. “Our budget for 2025 for those same related items was $348,000 for the entire year, and we spent roughly $700,000. So, we doubled our snow plowing budget in 2025, primarily because of December.”
Henderson commended the work done by city crews and contractors. As the snow melts during this week’s unseasonably warm patch, he said their work will help prevent flooding.
“Having access for that kind of surge with contractors is critical for us. Had we not had an extra three or four graders, depending on the day, working alongside us think about where we’d be at on a day like today (Monday, Jan. 12),” he continued.
“No matter how well you fund a snow removal program, in some people’s eyes, it’s never going to be enough when you have the need for it. Other times, it’s going to be seen as wasteful or opulent,” said Dawson Creek city council Jerimy Earl.
Additional hands remain at work ensuring the city’s roads are drivable.
“(Crews are) dealing with all those problematic areas that we didn’t get to when we were just trying to really maintain access,” said Henderson.
Another concern for staffers is the expected return to subzero temperatures this weekend, as forecast by Environment Canada. This week, temperatures will only dip slightly below zero, until Saturday, when it drops closer to seasonal with a low of –10 C overnight.
When the temperature returns to its average, anywhere from –10 C to –19 C, the melted snow and slush will freeze. To get ahead of this, crews are steaming and managing the remaining piles of snow.
“Pothole season is going to be exceptional this year,” said Henderson. “This sort of stuff really wreaks havoc.”
