City crews have been working since 5 a.m. Friday, to clear roads and sidewalks as the community receives its first major snowfall of the season.
Crews will continue to clear snow throughout the day and evening and into the weekend, the city noted in a press release Friday afternoon.
Cleanup of the downtown core will start at 9 p.m. Saturday evening.
This will include sidewalks, streets and the remainder of any city-owned parking lots staff are unable to get to Friday evening.
The city will then start trucking snow from the down core at 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Transit service is unavailable at this time, but will resume as soon as possible, beginning with routes along main roads. The Williams Lake Regional Airport remains open as city staff continue with ongoing snow and ice control operations.
Travellers are advised to check with their scheduled commercial carrier for updates as to flight information: Central Mountain Air 250- 989-4245, Pacific Coastal Air 250-989-0198.
The city currently has four snow removal trucks on the roads. These trucks are dispatched to the west side, South Lakeside area, Highway 97/north and south Broadway area, north of Comer street, Glendale area, and Mackenzie Ave South and North.
In addition, two sidewalk machines are clearing city sidewalks and city staff are shovelling sidewalks and stairways.
In a storm event such as this, City staff are keeping roads open and sidewalks cleared, as per the city’s snow policy. Once the storm has passed and crews have had a opportunity to clear roads and sidewalks and city-owned parking lots, cleanup will occur.
Cleanup will require heavy machinery to windrow snow to the centre of the street starting in the downtown core and residential areas. Once the snow has been trucked away from these areas, residential cleanup will begin.
This process will take several days. City residents can assist by insuring they clean sidewalks in front of their businesses and homes and refrain from parking on city streets.
The city road division has 13 staff. Shifts are as follows: day shift Monday to Friday 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the afternoon shift is 2:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Additional staff are utilized from the water and waste division 8 a.m. to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday.