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Vancouver drivers complain about lack of plowing as snow hits; city defends response

WATCH: Many Vancouverites accused the city of falling down on the job when it came to clearing the roads. Grace Ke has more – Dec 19, 2016

As Vancouver drivers took to the streets this morning, many realized a number of major roadways in the city were not plowed ahead of the morning rush hour.

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A few took to Twitter to vent their frustration about the lack of snow plows on the roads.

However, the City of Vancouver says city crews were out plowing the majority of major routes Sunday when the accumulations reached five centimetres, which is when the city activates its snow plowing fleet.

WATCH: Did the wet snow catch the City of Vancouver off guard?

The city also claims to have had additional trucks plowing curb lanes and bus stops Sunday night and early this morning before the 3 a.m. snowfall hit.

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The city’s deputy general manager of engineering Cheryl Nelms told reporters outside the City Hall this afternoon there were 10 trucks working overnight and as of 7 a.m. this morning, 30 trucks, all equipped with plows, were out working.

READ MORE: Snowstorm moves in across Metro Vancouver Monday causing a messy morning commute

Nelms said they re-assessed their plan mid-morning when conditions started changing.

“Our storm response is scalable,” said Nelms. “So when the forecast changed, we did change our plan. That’s why we scaled up and we have 38 crews out there on site right now.”

As to the concerns voiced by many commuters this morning, Nelms says they rely on their drivers to respond and put the plows down. Nelms also adds it takes time for salt to work as traffic hits the road.

“It was a heavy snowfall between 3 and 6 a.m. We got those crews out there and [they] are working on it,” said Nelms.
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The city says they have enough salt and sand in stock to be able to respond adequately.

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