Snow season is here!

Learn what you can do to help.

• REMOVE PARKED VEHICLES: After a snowfall, move your vehicles off the street to allow plows to clear the roads efficiently. Note that trailers are never permitted to be parked unattached on roadsides.
• CLEAR YOUR SIDEWALKS: Property owners must clear snow from abutting pathways within 24 hours to help enhance pedestrian safety, or by 10:00 AM for commercial operators. View the Good Neighbour Bylaw 2387 for full requirements.
• SHOVEL SNOW ONTO YOUR PROPERTY: If you shovel snow onto permeable land like grass, it can help with drainage and prevent ice build-up.
• CLEAR WINDROWS: It’s your responsibility to clear the snow piles left by snowplows in front
  of your property.
• HELP YOUR NEIGHBOURS: Offer assistance to elderly or disabled neighbours who may need help clearing their sidewalks.
• DON’T INTERRUPT PLOW OPERATORS: Snowplow operators cannot accommodate personal requests. Let them focus on their work.
• BE PATIENT: Snow removal prioritizes business areas, bus routes, schools, and hospitals first. Residential streets will be cleared later as resources allow. Larger snowfalls (5–20 cm) will be addressed within 8–30 hours. With heavier accumulations, the City prioritizes making roads passable first, returning later to continue snow removal. Snowfalls under 5 cm are considered passable and do not require immediate removal.  Snow removal will continue during regularly scheduled work hours.
• WAIT 36 HOURS BEFORE REPORTING ISSUES: After a snowfall, wait 36 hours before reporting issues to allow the City time to address the most critical areas. You can submit requests online at merritt.ca/report-a-problem or by calling 250-378-4224 (press 3).

City Snow Removal Program

The City of Merritt has designed its snow-clearing program around the specific climatic conditions that we tend to experience in the Nicola Valley. According to Environment Canada Historical Climate Normals (1981-2010), Merritt saw an average annual snowfall of 66.7cm (26.25 inches). During that period, the average snow depth for November was 1cm, December 5cm, January 5cm and February 2cm, with all other months at 0cm, effectively demonstrating that the city does not see significant snow accumulation as it tends to melt.

APPROACH

As significant snow accumulation is rare, the City’s snow removal efforts tend to be more geared towards management of ice over the bulk of the winter season. When it does snow, the snow is simply plowed to the side of the road as snow removal is not necessary as it typically melts. In most areas, when temperatures get very cold, the snow is generally plowed, graded, and sanded. A brine or a sand/salt mix is used in specified areas and is weather forecast dependent. Snow removal is not specified except for the downtown area and only when there is no forecast of potential melting.

For snowfall between 5cm – 20 cm (2 – 8 inches), snow removal is forecast to occur within 8 or 30 hours, depending on the priority zone. For snowfall under 5cm (2 inches), no timeframe is defined.  Similarly, for aberrant snow accumulations greater than 20 cm (8 inches), no timeframe is indicated and the priority will shift towards making streets passable. Ongoing snow accumulations may affect this timeline.

PRIORITIES & MAP

Generally speaking, snow and ice management priorities are the main arterial routes like Voght Street, the hillsides in the Bench area, intersections, corners, Bus Routes, Schools, Airport, Downtown, and Civic Facilities like the pool, followed by secondary residential routes. Removal of snow in secondary laneways, sideroads and parking areas are one the the last areas to be addressed. Detailed snow and ice management priorities are publicly available on our GIS Mapping Tool:  merritt.ca/maps

Snow removal equipment currently includes: a 1-ton pick-up with plow and sander, a loader with a plow blade, a brine truck with applicator and an underbody for plowing snow, a brine trailer which can be towed by any pickup, and two multi-use sidewalk machines. The City’s public works staff can reallocated to the snow removal team as necessary.

The City’s current snow removal program is appropriate for its size, climate, and budget. However, extreme weather events may adversely impact the progress of snow removal.