THE City of Surrey says its road crews are prepared for snow and ice conditions to ensure everyone gets to and from their destination safely. Salt supplies have been replenished at the City’s 17,000 metric ton salt shed, fleets have been winterized and snow response technologies have been activated.
“In these times of uncertainty, one thing that remains is our commitment to the safety and well-being of all of our residents. Ensuring that our 4,000 kilometers of main roads are safe and passable during the winter season is a top priority,” said Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum on Tuesday. “This is no small task, but our staff are prepared and ready. As we have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, it takes a community effort to keep everyone safe. So, please, do your part to clear snow and ice from sidewalks outside your home and prepare your vehicle for winter driving.”
The City’s comprehensive winter road preparedness strategy includes:
* A diverse 73-unit winter maintenance fleet, ready to clear snow and de-ice over 4,000 kilometres of roadway
* Three strategically located materials handling facilities, including an industry-leading 17,000 metric ton salt shed
* State-of-the-art technologies, such as the Road Weather Information System, Traffic Camera Network, and Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) Turn-by-Turn Route Assistance, all functioning together to establish the strongest municipal snow fighting network in the province
* Community outreach innovations like the Snow removal address look-up, Surrey Plow Tracker, and Traffic Data Hub to help residents make informed travel decisions, based on snow clearing priority routes
The City’s focus is keeping priority roads as clear as possible to support public safety, ensure emergency services can respond quickly, and to maintain public transit and vehicle travel on main arterial roads. The City uses a three-level priority system:
- Priority one roads include arterial roads, major collector roads, bus routes and hilly areas
- Priority two roads include access routes to secondary roads which connect local traffic with arterial or major collector roads
- Priority three routes include the remaining residential roads, which are addressed in a systematic manner, starting with identified problem areas, once all other roads are cleared
When snow falls, the City is reminding the public to help to keep sidewalks and streets safe by:
* Clearing snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their properties by 10 a.m. every day
* Readying vehicles with snow tires and stocking winter gear likes shovels and salt before snow arrives
* Giving snowplows plenty of space to work by storing vehicles in garages or off priority routes
* Clearing storm drains of leaves and snow to prevent flooding
* Reporting non-emergency snow and ice service requests to surrey.ca/request
* Planning ahead with tips from surrey.ca/snow webpage and by tuning in to City social media channels for the latest news
More information about the City of Surrey’s snow removal and ice control plan is available at surrey.ca/snow.
