More than 35 centimetres of snow fell in Fort St John within the past week, and clearing crews are at work on 100 Street, 100 Avenue, and some residential areas.
“City crew has started clearing the main category one street again this morning,” said the city of Fort St John.
Contracted crews will stick to their schedule, as dictated in the city’s snow and ice policy, according to Fort St John’s snow clearing update. For today, non-city crews are clearing category five Monday B neighbourhoods, which includes some downtown streets, and others are handling category four frontage roads.
Parking on the streets is prohibited until roads are completely cleared, including the windrows in the middle of the road.
The speed at which a street is cleared is determined by the city’s policy to best “facilitate the movement of emergency vehicles, traffic, and pedestrians throughout the winter months,” it says.
Category one roadways are identified as 100 Street, 100 Avenue, and “major thoroughfares.” Priority parking lots to clear include the local RCMP detachment, City Hall, and the Pomeroy Sport Centre.
Clearing begins when more than five centimetres of snow fall, and after the first batch of roads are cleared, city crews will move onto the next group.
“If a further snowfall accumulation of five centimetres or greater occurs, crews will continue (or) return to clear category one roadways, later (or) returning to clear roadways in category sequence,” the policy explains.
Looking to the rest of this week in Fort St John, there is a chance of flurries every day until Friday. Environment Canada reports two centimetres of snow to fall today, with a 30 per cent chance of snow on Tuesday, and a 60 per cent chance of snow the following day. Periods of snow are also expected on Wednesday night and during the day on Thursday.
