With snow falling in the Central Okanagan, the City of Kelowna says parking bans on snow routes will come into effect on Sunday morning.
The city said some neighbourhoods got up to six inches of overnight snow.
The parking ban will start at 10 a.m.
“We have had 10 units out plowing since midnight, increased to 20 units around 2 a.m., which is our current complement,” City of Kelowna public works manager Geert Bos said in a Saturday morning press release.
The city says it clears and de-ices municipal streets, including snow routes, by its priority classification.
Priority one includes high-traffic roads such as Gordon Drive. Priority two includes collector roads such as Richter Street, bus routes, school zones, town centers and emergency vehicle stations. Priority three includes local roads in neighbourhoods, while Priority four includes remaining lanes.
Notably, Highway 97 (Harvey Avenue) and Highway 33 are maintained by the province.
The city says snowplows are currently focusing on major routes and arterial roads (Priority one) routes.
According to the city, Priority two to four roads won’t be serviced until service levels of P1 roads are achieved.
The snow event advisory affects residents living on designated snow routes on:
- Academy Way
- Black Mountain
- Clifton/Magic Estates/Wilden
- Dilworth Mountain
- Kirschner Mountain
- McKinley Beach
- Areas in the South Mission (includes The Ponds).
Residents parked on the street have 24 hours to find alternative off-street parking.
The city says vehicles that remain parked on snow routes during the temporary parking ban are subject to enforcement, up to and including a $50 fine or towing.
In addition, the city says residents not living on a snow route are encouraged to move their vehicles off the road to help snowplows.
The snow route parking ban will remain in effect until the city lifts it.