It’s snowing, and that means the District of Kent and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs are out with their equipment trying to get it all off the roads.
Both the district and Harrison Hot Springs divide their roads into different priority groups. The first priority is always emergency access routes and school routes. The District of Kent also identifies roads that provide access to district water and wastewater facilities, streets that provide access to senior and long-term care facilities, rural milk truck routes and federal prison access.
SEE THE FIRST PRIORITY MAP FOR THE DISTRICT OF KENT
The District of Kent’s snow clearing plan is also available in an online app.
Secondary routes for both municipalities include secondary roads, including residential subdivisions and local roads.
Public sidewalks are a third priority, as well as district-owned parking lots in Kent. Harrison identifies the public sidewalks on Lillooet Avenue and Hot Springs Road as a fourth priority.
The District of Kent’s snow control plan says it will only go onto second and third priority routes after conditions are under control for the first priority routes.
“Addressing road priorities may be balanced against efficiency of operation in some lower priority roads being treated because they are in the vicinity of high priority routes,” the plan reads. “If there is an emergency, resources will be diverted to a non-priority road to allow access. Similarly, resources may be diverted to access the homes of public works personnel to enable them to attend their workplace to operate snow and ice control equipment.”
What do I need to do?
In both the District of Kent and Harrison Hot Springs, residents are responsible for shovelling their private property and the sidewalks around it.
Residents are asked to pile their snow to the right of their driveway (when facing the street) to prevent the snow from being pushed back into the driveway when municipal plows go through.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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