VERNON – Almost two weeks after a storm inundated Okanagan communities with snow, some streets in Vernon are still reduced to single lanes.
The long cleanup makes driving and parking difficult and has some panning the city’s snow removal efforts.
“I don’t think they’ve been doing it properly at all,” says Sandy Charters. “When people visit there is nowhere to park now so you can’t have company over.”
The municipality estimates it fielded over three hundred calls about the snow. A city spokesperson says Vernon crews have been clearing snow in priority sequence, with major routes at the top of the list.
“The priority was just to open them up, not necessarily to clear them to the curb, but to make sure they were open for transportation and safe to use. Now that they have cleared all of those roads they are now going back and widening them,” says Tanya Laing Gahr, the city’s communications and grants coordinator.
Other residents had praise for the city’s snow clearing work, arguing the city did well considering the large amount of snow they had to deal with.
Vernon wasn’t the only city to field calls about snow removal after the recent dump of powder. Penticton says it received 200 complaints or calls for service, while Kelowna had over 900.
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