The City of Castlegar is asking residents to remove their garbage carts from the curb as quickly as possible to help with snow clearing this winter.
“Plowing around garbage carts and recycle bins during snow removal season is a huge time impact for our operators,” the city said in a news release.
With over 90 kilometres of roads and 20 kilometres of sidewalks to maintain, those delays add hours to the time it takes to clear the snow, according to the city.
Castlegar also asks that garbage and recycling be placed in a cleared area and not on top of snow piles.
Additional problems facing snowplow operators come from drivers using high beams and following plows too closely.
The suggested distance for following a snowplow is two to three car lengths.
To maintain safety, people are asked to avoid shovelling snow from sidewalks into the street and to make sure children do not build snow forts or tunnels along the roadway.
Plowing priority routes
The city has a goal of plowing priority-one and priority-two routes within 12 hours after a storm, depending on snowfall rates and duration.
Priority-one routes include Columbia Avenue and Arrow Lakes Drive from 18th Street to the industrial plants.
Collector and residential roads with grades steeper than nine per cent are also included in the priority-one category.
Priority-two routes include roads to emergency service buildings — the Castlegar Health Centre, the fire hall, police station and ambulance station — all collector roads, access to schools, commercial and industrial areas, and sidewalks in the downtown core.
Priority three is all remaining residential streets, snow hauling from central business areas — 2nd, 3rd and 4th Streets and Columbia Avenue — street widening, access to water and sewer facilities and access to hydrants.
Priority-four routes include lanes, all remaining sidewalks, city-owned parking lots, cleared paths to the roadway at bus stops and turnouts, and the remaining snow hauling.
Residents can help speed things up by removing unused vehicles, boats, trailers, etc. from streets, and parking vehicles off city roads during snow removal.