Okanagan residents woke up under a blanket of snow on Tuesday, and more is expected to fall as the day wears on.
With that in mind, municipalities around the valley are putting their snow removal plans into action.
Kelowna has issued a snow event advisory, meaning a temporary parking ban is now in effect for snow routes.
No parking is permitted on snow routes located in Academy Way, Black Mountain, Clifton/Magic Estates/Wilden, Dilworth Mountain, Kirschner Mountain, McKinley Beach and areas in the South Mission, including The Ponds.
Residents parked on the street will have 24 hours to find alternative off-street parking before enforcement begins.
“Residents are asked to be patient as crews will be focusing on clearing roadways and laying sand on Priority 1 and 2 routes before attending to local roads in neighbourhoods,” roadways operations manager Andrew Schwerdtfeger said.
“Residents not living on a snow route are still encouraged to move their vehicles off the road to help plows clear the snow from curb to curb safely and quickly.”
Municipal roads are cleared and de-iced based on their priority status.
Priority 1 includes high-traffic roads such as Gordon Drive, Rutland Road, Glenmore Road and Lakeshore Road. Priority 2 includes collector roads such as Richter Street, bus routes, school zones and emergency vehicle stations.
Priority 3 and 4 roads include residential roadways. Highway 97 (Harvey Avenue) and Highway 33 are maintained by the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. Check out the online map to find out a road’s priority status at kelowna.ca/snow.
Residents and business owners are reminded that they are responsible for clearing the snow off sidewalks adjacent to their property.