Opinion: Rise in snow days could mean a huge jump in Vancouver\u0027s snow\u002Dclearing budget
Metro Vancouver municipalities clear snow on main streets and emergency routes first, but the City of Vancouver’s current approach leaves most residential side streets alone.Sign up to know what's really happening by reading daily editorials and commentary by British Columbia's opinion leadersBy clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
Vancouver averages only about 10 days a year with snowfall, said Amy Sidwell, Vancouver’s manager of street operations. The city doesn’t have a fleet of snowplows sitting around waiting to be used, she explained, but instead, when it snows, the city equips service vehicles such as dump trucks with plows and salters.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.to the city’s winter weather protocols, intended to increase the priority for pedestrians.
Adding residential side streets to Vancouver’s snow-clearing plans could easily more than double the winter weather budget, said Gord Lovegrove, a professor of engineering at the University of B.C.’s Okanagan campus, who previously worked in Vancouver’s engineering department. “We’re going to have to look at the data that tells us how often and how impactful these weather events are, and whether this is something we need to put more resources into,” Klassen said. “If the city grinds to a halt … everybody’s working really hard, but can we do better? I think the answer’s yes.”
Beyond the question of annual budgets, the key longer-term approach to this issue is promoting more walkable, rollable, transit-friendly cities, said Peter Whitelaw, a senior planner with Renewable Cities. Reducing car dependency not only reduces the need for snow-clearing, he said, but also cuts emissions, mitigating effects of climate change.