THE City of Surrey is hosting Open Houses on Saturday, May 25, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Newton and South Surrey Operations Centres to celebrate National Public Works Week (May 19- 25).

The public is invited to drop in at either of the open houses for free, family-friendly fun including firetrucks, painting of snowplows, and RC boat races. Everyone is welcome to tour the facilities, see the heavy machinery behind the scenes and enjoy hot dogs and snow cones.

“I’m so proud of our dedicated staff who work tirelessly every day to maintain and improve essential services to advance the quality of life of our residents,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke. “From repairing potholes to ensuring clean drinking water, their efforts contribute to safer streets, healthier environments, and more efficient infrastructure. The open houses are an opportunity for the public to meet our operations staff and learn about the great work they do to keep the City running smoothly.”

The Operations Centre in Newton is located at 6651 148 Street, and the Operations Centre in South Surrey is located at 2236 166 Street.

Last year, Surrey operations staff were busy keeping the city clean, and roads and the community safe:

• 2 city-wide Clean Blitz litter clean-ups ensured 4,200 kilometres of roads were litter free.
• 8,000 tonnes of salt deployed over the winter to ensure safe commuting on over 4,000 lane kilometres.
• 22,118 native trees and 2,145 trees planted.
• 16,000 potholes filled.
• 4.4 kilometres of additional trails constructed in parks.
• 12,215 service resident requests responded to.
• 2,033 metres of sidewalk repaired.
• 2 kilometres of dykes upgraded and 6 flood control drains constructed.
• 13,562 signs made in the Sign Shop.
• 626 graffiti tags removed.
• 300 animals received care at the Surrey Animal Resource Centre and 97 pets adopted.
• 1,792 metric tonnes of recycling diverted from the landfill.
• 5,315 metric tonnes of organics diverted from the landfill.

For more information about the public works open houses, visit surrey.ca/publicworksweek.