Seriously? they do a good job? It took 3 days to get 100th Ave clear...but i guess if you don't drive a 4x4 3-quarter tonne truck then you don't matter in FSJ... Also pedestrians obviously don't matter to FSJ city council as i have barely seen a sidewalk cleared yet. They make a big deal about getting rid plastic bags at grocery stores in an effort to be "green" but heaven forbid anyone ever walk in this town instead of drive 3 blocks.

What, is this a joke that our current council actually had a debate over the snow removal? The majority of the council has their roads cleaned before we do. Out of the 8 cities that I've called home during my life, fort st john is the worst for clearing snow, hands down. The wind rows that they push into the center of the roads create more problems for winter drivers especially those with smaller cars. I have personally witnessed a senior shovel the walkway in front of his his to watch a plow come and push heavy ice chuncks and snow back up on the sidewalk that the senior had just cleared. That snow and ice was still there a week later, I don't blame the fellow for not clearing the snow again, but I would be more then willing to voice my opinion to the poor fellow who drives around looking for people to give tickets to for not clearing their snow..... The current council should be really embarassed with the state of the local roads, raising taxes are not the answer either. Use the money put aside for snow removal to do a proper job. And for all of you who think that the current way of snow clearing is acceptable, please go and have a look at other cities our size within bc. We will rank right at the bottom. The public works does a horrible job, but what can we say, typical union, they don't care! I also think the council should look at giving the poor lady who answers the phones at city hall a raise.. a large one, I can't imagine what she hears on a daily basis from us frustrated tax paying citizens. I would like to see snow clearing become an issue at the next election, because their tunes will change and maybe the results would be different. I hope that the new council like trevor bolin grow a set and stand up to our long standing useless concil... snow removal, what snow removal? and what policy? ha

Has anyone who complains ever actually asked questions about the snow removal policy before jumping the gun and getting upset. Really, we live in the north and we get snow. I drive a car and I can get pretty much everywhere. The windrows can be a hassle but again, we get snow. Come mid winter take a trip to Dawson or to Grande Prairie and you will appreciate our snow removal. I have lived in FSJ my whole life....and I would not complain about snow removal. If you are worried about the elderly having to shovel their driveway...go help them. Yes, it sucks when the plow trucks go down the street and fill in the end of the driveway, but there is not the man power nor the budget to go back and clean out every driveway. And there is enough people out there advertising to clear driveways that you could hire someone to do it for you. Also, for the people who complain about city workers being union and saying they don't care. Really...you are generalizing a group of people because of where they work and you are assuming they don't care. I am sure they do care, their families drive these same roads. The city workers can't win ....summer, too many flowers etc, winter, too much snow. Seriously...do you think the workers get to make the decisions? They are doing their job. I would like to commend the city workers who are out there at all hours trying their best to keep the roads cleared. They can not be in every end of town at once nor can they always get the plow around done in the projected amount of time. Everyone needs to try a little patience and understanding. These workers take alot of needless flack from the public.

100th Street wasn't even cleared for the parade. Wtf?

How ironic is it that Lantzy-Fantsy-Pants goes from chief critic of City's snow removal when he was the editor of the Alaska Highway News owned Northeast News to chief cheerleader now that he is mayor. Nothing surprises me anymore. Anyway, Fort St. John residents need to start recognizing how good of job the city does with snow removal. I have traveled to Prince George in the winter, and the snow removal there is an absolute mess. Same with Grande Prarie, Edmonton, Dawson Creek, Calgary and many other snowy places.... We have nothing to be upset about.

BTW, whats the problem with windrows? If the roads are slippery, you can drive into them a little bit to get grip if you need it, and it also keeps vehicles out of oncoming lanes. The only thing you can't do is street race your F350 duallies side by side. Suck it up buttercups.

this would be a good time of the year for our local greenies to invite david susuki up here to give his rant about global warming.that mite take the pressure off city council,heheeheheh

Hopefully he is on his luch hour while seen napping on rural roads.

Okay...let's have a look at timing...It snowed pretty much all day. There definately was not enough hours to get the snow plowed up and removed. If they had moved the snow off the road for the parade the snow would have had to go to the curb....where you were sitting, then you really would have complained. The snow can not remove that quickly...parade or no parade. Some people seem pretty quick to complain that the work in the city does not get done quick enough or to a certain persons' standards. Seriously people...it is winter, there will be snow and probably lots of it, get used to it.

Windrows also mean that the snow was not pushed into someone's driveway, pick the lesser of two evils! However, I do have a problem with the windrows being left for days on end in a school zone! Parent's can lecture their kids as much as they want but kids will always play on them. when I pick up my children from school there are a lot of other children who are walking home on top of them. They are too much of a temptation for children and too dangerous and I think they should be removed right away! My only other beef is when the grader or trucks do not clear the entire width of the street. Vehicles still park on both sides (because people have no common sense) and the street becomes way to narrow. If you're going to clear the street then clear the entire street and don't make it so narrow that it's now hard to pass a vehicle on!

Good job, snow clearing guys! Don't let the belly-achers get you down! There are lots of folks who appreciate your hard work.

Lynn, get your facts straight before you post. You seem to not care if our local seniors have snow on their walk-ways from your comments. I can understand your comment about the general comment over the city workers, but honestly, they're all union workers, they all have the same rep and the same motivation. Things just keep getting worse in city hall with the way its run. And let me also tell you that the city (about the size of fort st john) that I grew up in spent the time cleaning the roads after snowfalls and cleaned the end of the driveways for us so there wasn't 12 inches of buildup with a 90 degree angle. And before you even this about going back to the taxes, realize that the taxes were actually lower in that city, even now, lower then fort st john. They do have the man power, and although they take orders from their boss, they still have no motivation. You should also take note the times that the busiest streets are being cleaned, my favorite was a snowfall that happened on a wednesday that required clean-up, they finally got to clearing the windrows on 100th friday afternoon when the traffic is the worst... I don't think the guys calling the shots in city hall could manage themselves out of a wet paper bag. Thats not anger either, thats just based on the facts that we've been given and the results that we see.. .budget or no budget, organization would solve most of the problems. I also find it ironic that the mayor used to be the one complaining about the snow removal and nothing has changed since he got in to the office. How ironic!! Yes its winter, yes there will be snow, it could be dealt with in a more efficient way though... I know that 90% of you agree, the other 10% are those writing comments trying to convince us that they're doing a good job clearing the snow... that by itself is a reason to laugh....

Snow removal can be a big problem... how to move it, who is responsible, litigious attorneys, where to push or store it, etc. First course of action is to determine the reasons. Is it merely convenience or is it for safety and then allocate your resources accordingly. Sidewalks, handicap accessibility, entry ways, public buildings should be high on the list. I have seen electric snow melting systems work in towns in Missouri designed by WARMZONE to tackle this very same issue.

I do know my facts. I never said I didn't care if the seniors get plowed in....do not assume or "read between the lines" on what I posted. My parents are seniors here and we go and clean out their driveway when it needs to be done. We do not expect the city to do it. City workers - yes they are union but that does not give anyone the right to lump them in the same pile and say that they all have a bad reputation and don't care. I know many city workers who do care about the job they do and give as much to their job as possible. As for the city you used to live in.....what difference does that make?? The City here does the best they can with the situations that arise. All the slamming and negative comments that are thrown around in regards to the city and the city staff are unbelievable. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Nobody seems to want to give them constructive advice or non-judgemental opinions. People are just generalizing them by where they work and cutting them down at every opportunity. And remember you will always get better results with some sweet sugar than with sour lemons.

There is only one reason why council and the mayor think the snow removal is good.......their streets are done before the snow even stops falling!!!!!

Very well put. I aggree, and everyone I have talked to about this issue does to!!

I lived in PG for 6 years and Fort Nelson for 1.5 years before I moved to FSJ 6 years ago. Hands down, FSJ has the worst snow removal in my opinion. In PG, snow is removed from major streets overnight when the traffic is minimal, and rural areas in the day, when most people are at work. They are very efficient and actually remove most of the snow, not just push it into peoples' yards/driveways like they do here. AND, they never leave windrows across driveways. There's no excuse for that-the plow operator just has to slow down a bit and take more care. Last two years in a row, we kept the sidewalk in front of our house shoveled bare, and it was 6" below the road surface at one point because the road was not plowed for so long. I now refuse to plow the sidewalk. If I get fined, the guy handing out tickets is getting a facewash!

Regardless of any opinions about how the city is doing with our snow removal it might be worth remembering that any public service like this is going to have room for improvement. I dont think it speaks well of our council that they seem so convinced the current system is working as it should be, but those of us concerned about the issue might try providing some constructive critisism rather than subjective comments. For example, I think it is much more desirable to have the windrows in the center of the street temporarily rather than blocking driveways. Although Removing those windrows really should not be done when everyone is driving to work or school. Aside from the concernes about blocking seniors in, it also means that after people shovel their driveway, walkway, and sidewalk they still may have to clear more to ensure they can get to work, or take kids to school. So why should every person with a driveway have to do that extra, hard to plan for, task when the city is responsible for removing the snow from the street in the first place? Certainly one might ask why we are calling it snow removal at that point.

I live on the same street as one of the city councillors and our street is not done before anyone else's.....and the mayor lives in the country so the city doesnt do his at all.

I have lived in cities all across the country. Fort St. John has the WORST snow removal of anywhere! In no other city that I have lived in does the city not plow out the driveways they plow in, nor does it take a week to clean the streets! We still have not been plowed in the Matthews Park area, and we can only hope to god they dont come by now! The snow has been packed down nicely now and the mess of them coming by putting HUGE chunks of frozen ice and snow 4 ft into our nicely plowed driveways in the middle of the night is just not necessary. Winnipeg, Whitehorse, Vernon, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and all the points I have lived in in between all have MUCH better snow removal programs. It is winter in FSJ for approx 6 - 8 months and our budget doesnt cover the cost of snow removal! Like seriously! The city has a snowblower truck, several plows etc.. please tell me why the snowblower truck is not right behind the blow cleaning out the crap that gets put into the driveways? You can bet that Mr. Lantz driveway was nicely cleaned out for him! Pathetic. Give that lady at Public Works a huge raise for having to deal with the angry phone calls and clients that come into her office.. poor lady has got a headache a mile wide I'm sure! Is is any wonder that the city has a hard time keeping that office staffed? With the shortage of work in the oilfield sector, there is an abundance of qualified drivers who could surely learn to lower a plow on a truck.. ALL the way to the ground! Quoted right from the policy from the city itself "The new policies and procedures allow us to Plow all streets within 32 hours after a major snowfall - prior practices took 15 days" wow. 32 hours huh! We are going on well past 32 hours on this side of town! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday thus far haven't seen a plow yet! I am totally appalled at the roads in this town in both summer and winter, with all the oilfield activity here you would think there is some revenue somewhere that can be applied and addressed to the roads. A terrible lack of team leaders on city council, the mayor and the "private sectors" that they apparently hire to help them clean the roads. SAD. I have to give huge KUDOS to YRB though, the highways are maintained and cleaned in a very nice fashion and you see them out there the minute the snow starts falling! KUDOS YRB, and a massive thumbs down to the terrible city snow removal!

I have lived in cities all across the country. Fort St. John has the WORST snow removal of anywhere! In no other city that I have lived in does the city not plow out the driveways they plow in, nor does it take a week to clean the streets! We still have not been plowed in the Matthews Park area, and we can only hope to god they dont come by now! The snow has been packed down nicely now and the mess of them coming by putting HUGE chunks of frozen ice and snow 4 ft into our nicely plowed driveways in the middle of the night is just not necessary. Winnipeg, Whitehorse, Vernon, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and all the points I have lived in in between all have MUCH better snow removal programs. It is winter in FSJ for approx 6 - 8 months and our budget doesnt cover the cost of snow removal! Like seriously! The city has a snowblower truck, several plows etc.. please tell me why the snowblower truck is not right behind the blow cleaning out the crap that gets put into the driveways? You can bet that Mr. Lantz driveway was nicely cleaned out for him! Pathetic. Give that lady at Public Works a huge raise for having to deal with the angry phone calls and clients that come into her office.. poor lady has got a headache a mile wide I'm sure! Is is any wonder that the city has a hard time keeping that office staffed? With the shortage of work in the oilfield sector, there is an abundance of qualified drivers who could surely learn to lower a plow on a truck.. ALL the way to the ground! Quoted right from the policy from the city itself "The new policies and procedures allow us to Plow all streets within 32 hours after a major snowfall - prior practices took 15 days" wow. 32 hours huh! We are going on well past 32 hours on this side of town! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday thus far haven't seen a plow yet! I am totally appalled at the roads in this town in both summer and winter, with all the oilfield activity here you would think there is some revenue somewhere that can be applied and addressed to the roads. A terrible lack of team leaders on city council, the mayor and the "private sectors" that they apparently hire to help them clean the roads. SAD. I have to give huge KUDOS to YRB though, the highways are maintained and cleaned in a very nice fashion and you see them out there the minute the snow starts falling! KUDOS YRB, and a massive thumbs down to the terrible city snow removal!

I have lived in cities all across the country. Fort St. John has the WORST snow removal of anywhere! In no other city that I have lived in does the city not plow out the driveways they plow in, nor does it take a week to clean the streets! We still have not been plowed in the Matthews Park area, and we can only hope to god they dont come by now! The snow has been packed down nicely now and the mess of them coming by putting HUGE chunks of frozen ice and snow 4 ft into our nicely plowed driveways in the middle of the night is just not necessary. Winnipeg, Whitehorse, Vernon, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and all the points I have lived in in between all have MUCH better snow removal programs. It is winter in FSJ for approx 6 - 8 months and our budget doesnt cover the cost of snow removal! Like seriously! The city has a snowblower truck, several plows etc.. please tell me why the snowblower truck is not right behind the blow cleaning out the crap that gets put into the driveways? You can bet that Mr. Lantz driveway was nicely cleaned out for him! Pathetic. Give that lady at Public Works a huge raise for having to deal with the angry phone calls and clients that come into her office.. poor lady has got a headache a mile wide I'm sure! Is is any wonder that the city has a hard time keeping that office staffed? With the shortage of work in the oilfield sector, there is an abundance of qualified drivers who could surely learn to lower a plow on a truck.. ALL the way to the ground! Quoted right from the policy from the city itself "The new policies and procedures allow us to Plow all streets within 32 hours after a major snowfall - prior practices took 15 days" wow. 32 hours huh! We are going on well past 32 hours on this side of town! Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday thus far haven't seen a plow yet! I am totally appalled at the roads in this town in both summer and winter, with all the oilfield activity here you would think there is some revenue somewhere that can be applied and addressed to the roads. A terrible lack of team leaders on city council, the mayor and the "private sectors" that they apparently hire to help them clean the roads. SAD. I have to give huge KUDOS to YRB though, the highways are maintained and cleaned in a very nice fashion and you see them out there the minute the snow starts falling! KUDOS YRB, and a massive thumbs down to the terrible city snow removal!

I was actually quite surprised today with the snow removal in residential areas. The grader actually DIDN'T leave a huge woodrow in my driveway! This is the first time in many years that I haven't had to go out a try to move the icy chunks and I appreciate that! Hats off you the city worker who did the east bypass areas!!!!! We also have some very nice neighbors who bring their quads or tractors with blades on them and clear the end of some of the driveways. They are appreciated as well!!! If the rest of the winter is the same, I will be very happy!

OMG! Did you just become aware that you live in a northern community and it SNOWS there!! ALOT!! Shocking!! Whoda thunk it?!! Yes, sometimes you even have to shovel your driveway/sidewalk a couple times a day! Boo hoo...Get used to it...or move the F*** away! PLEASE!!

is far too low. its that simple. the city can afford a lot more investment. as residents we can help the crews to do their job easier if vehicles are not parked all over the residential streets. this alone makes huge difference by the end of a shift. right now you can purchase graders with low hours at an auction for a fraction of new price. make it routine to plow residential streets the day before the garbage truck comes. then every one knows to park off the street that day. I say day because there is less conjestion at that time. 24 hr. downtown core with removal at night. just a thought. there is room for improvement indeed.

Nutcracker, it seems like you have a lot of bent up anger. Would it be a free country if we all just shut up and didn't say anything? Since its a free country, I will continue to support the 80% of people who have posted. majority rules, except of course, to losers

I too have moved all over and this is the worst area by far that i have seen and had to try to drive in. Our street had not been touched until yesterday and after many complaints im sure was the reason it finally got plowed. When the snow isn't plowed all the way down we get the cold and it forms ice bumps all over the road which makes it for crap your pants driving because on top of that they don't gravel worth a hoot. Last year i watched cars sliding through school zones in a blizzard with a sheet of ice on the road with no gravel and kids trying to cross. It was scary and when i asked the principal if they had any pull with the city to get it graveled they stated that the city doesn't listen to them either. Its a nightmare trying to get around this town after a snowfall, throw freezing rain or -30 with wind on that and your taking a chance every time you head out. I know council reads these comments and we are all tax payers and put you all in your comfy seats. Dont make us regret doing so. I for one would really like to see some dirt on the roads this year and not my reflection looking back at me!

It's easy to complain but how about ideas on how to improve things? Here are my thoughts. 1) Don't remove snow windrows on the main streets during busy times. I took my kids to school this morning and we were detoured. Nothing serious but a real pain anyways. 2) In residential areas, move your vehicles out of the way! There are alot of cars that are plowed around several times making the streets narrower and when they do move it's a big "speed bump" in the middle of the road. A couple of years ago a city worker came to our door and asked us to move our car. He was polite and we were glad to move for him. They don't come to the door anymore but we try and stay out of their way. If they could go to the door and ask people to move, it may help. Those who won't move or can't, then tow the vehicle away. 3) They used to have graders in our area and when they went past the driveways they would drop the small "wing" to clear the plie from behind our vehicles. Now they use trucks with belly blades which are faster but create the large barricade at the end of our driveways. It's not really a big deal to shovel it out if you can do it right away. I can see how it would be a problem for elderly or for when they go by here at 11pm and you don't get a chance to do it so it's hard as rock in the morning and you're late running the kids to school. Bring back the graders during heavy snow removal. So just a few thoughts, maybe we can come up with a few more or better ones rather than complaining all the time. By the way, forum 8 what city did you live in before? Goldilocks, I have lived in Edmonton and Grande Prairie and both cities are just as bad as here or worse. In Edmonton, they only plowed our street once all winter and it was hell to drive.

From my own personal experience members of city councils streets are not cleared first. I find it very funny how some people claim council members streets are cleared first without proof of this .For those of you that have the time to do this research, Why dont you rather spend your time being more useful by helping those that have there driveways blocked instead of being so critical. Be happy its only snow removal you have to worry about and not your personal safety and that of the ones you love .

When I moved to Fort St. John I heard it was a community with a "frontier spirit" and a strong sense of community. However, my experience from this blog site shows otherwise. We seem to be a community of whinners and complainers that are always look to lay blame and point fingers. People who want the City to do everything for them - from entertaining them with a flawless parade to bare roads in winter. Where is that frontier spirit where people accept their role in helping! Snowclearing is all of our responsibility. I see business owners that don't clear their parking lots and sidewalks, residents who don't care about the neighbours and leave their sidewalks uncleared, people that park on the streets causing hazards to everyone else....so before we start looking to government to fix everything, how about everyone being responsible for their business and home and help neighbours out. The City snow clearing is not perfect but I think they do a pretty good job when stacked up to how some businesses and residents put others at risk by not clearing their sidewalks and parking on streets. And these people only have a small area to be responsible for...not the whole city! Come on guys! Lets get some of that northern grit back in our attitudes, quit whinning and start be responsible yourself!

It snows every winter, every year. Snow needs to be moved around. There isn't a grader on every street, 24-7. You don't want to pay high taxes. Get a snow blower to go with the giant pick up, skidoo, quad and boat. Shoveling probably the only exercise you get (or your wife gets because you are too busy complaining on this web site, to shovel) GP/Edm/Cal/Van etc you wouldn't have this conversation because they do the main roads and that's it. No sideroads or residential streets. Quit yer whinin' or move to where it doesn't snow or move out of the city where you get to do it all yourself at your own expense.

Anybody that says Edmonton and Calgary have better snow removal really have not lived in either city. Calgary, like most Southern Alberta communities relies on the Chinook for their snow removal. Why pay for a truck when the wind will take it --- IF you WAIT long enough. Edmonton - I lived there for nine years, usually didn't see a snowplow until March, and I'm talking main traffic arteries, not residential streets. That was living in an area where there were lots of influential people. The local alderman lived only a couple of blocks away. the provincial treasurer lived across the street, yet the packed driving lane of snow was almost 18 inches deep. And you think a windrow in the driveway is bad - try having it being 18" of packed snow that you have to create a ramp in so you can get up onto the street. No, Fort St John has one of the best snow removal plans in any community that I have ever lived in (and trust me - that has been a lot across Alberta, Saskatchwan and even some in BC). If you stop and think about it, the windrows are necessary, so that the snow blower can come along and suck it up and put it in a truck. Want real fun, live somewhere where you get the windrows, and then they are removed by a tractor with a bucket somewhere around the time of spring break-up. The only places that I have seen better snow removal are in those communities that count their snowfall in feet.

I am not saying the city owes it to us to make it spotless after every snow fall, but can't the clear 10th and 100th within 5 days of the snowfalling? There are alot of accidents caused by that plus the hazards posed to pedestrians because of the curbs and intersections.

I drove all last winter and so far this year with a small car with nearly bald all season tires and got/get around the city just fine. I lived in PG for 9 years and, it’s really not bad here. My only complaint is the current method of clearing is inefficient. The city needs a couple more graders with blade gates to work the residential streets, so as to not block driveways. The current sand/gravel trucks with blades go around the block 10 times which is a waste of time in my opinion, and in the end all the driveways are plugged. When the graders finally come around in the spring it takes them all morning to do one street as they are backing up too much, and the snow has now turned to ice. Sell a couple of those sand/gravel trucks and buy more graders with blade gates! Two passes with two graders and the street is done. That is the most efficient way to clear residential area. Down town has to be a night time operation, the snow blower is a bit slow, add a loader to the mix to get rid of the windrows sooner. A few minor tweaks and the complaints will stop.

I pay $3500 a year in city taxes. The subdivision I live in gets cleaned more and for that money so it should. I live on a dead end with 6 house's and they never want to come do this little section. It's the same as in the summer with the street sweeper every third time. As for uptown 100 and 100 has gone for @#$* ever since highways( YRB and Northlands) stopped doing it. And as for selling equipment it seems like a good idea but this dumb city has LEASED every piece of equipment. I would really like to know what the city fully owns. NOTHING. They would use graders with a wing that would drop when they went past driveways but someone decieded that made to much sense and went to underbody plow trucks so they could throw 3/4" gravel everywhere at the same time.

Well.. it's nice to see that we are so passionate about our city! I think it's great! Anyway, I have lived in Toronto (when we called in the army... oh, Mayor Mel!), I have lived on the East Coast and I have lived here. Let me tell you... I think the City does a GREAT job of removing the snow! They don't just plow it, but then remove it! I love that they don't use salt... do you know that damage that does to cars, roads, boots, and will encourage more wild life to come into the city! I think you are doing a great job! I think it would be greedy of the city to raise taxes during a time when people still struggle! PG has a population of over 77,000 and we have a population of less then 20,000! They have 4 times the people, and 4 times the snow removal budget!!! Keep up the good work!!

Well.. it's nice to see that we are so passionate about our city! I think it's great! Anyway, I have lived in Toronto (when we called in the army... oh, Mayor Mel!), I have lived on the East Coast and I have lived here. Let me tell you... I think the City does a GREAT job of removing the snow! They don't just plow it, but then remove it! I love that they don't use salt... do you know that damage that does to cars, roads, boots, and will encourage more wild life to come into the city! I think you are doing a great job! I think it would be greedy of the city to raise taxes during a time when people still struggle! PG has a population of over 77,000 and we have a population of less then 20,000! They have 4 times the people, and 4 times the snow removal budget!!! Keep up the good work!!

Some people have a hard time believing that when you live in the north there is snow and along with that comes snow removal. Good or bad it is what it is. What frost my cake is the private businesses that plow snow up to stop signs at intersections so that no one can see around them. An example is of a business across from the Canadian wholesale place by a busy intersection has plowed their snow up to the edge of the parking lot obscruing the view of oncoming traffic until they are 10 ft from the highway. Why are these owners not fined of complained to and made to move the snow somewhere else?

I just got to mention that YRB is doing a great job on the highways, from mile 54 north the roads and great and the plows have allready pushed all the snow off the shoulders and rolled it into the ditch, at least up to mile 115.... seriously, YRB does a great job.

I have to comment here that I feel the City is doing a pretty good job keeping up with the dumps of snow on the roads... for the most part. My only real complaint is that they haven't figured it out that it is not OK to just leave people stranded in their driveways or in their back alleys. If they can afford to have someone sitting in a stupid vacuum cleaner vehicle picking up garbage along sidewalks in the summer (rather than using delinquents needing community service hours to do it), then surely they could afford a something to come along behind the graders to push away the ice chunks left behind in front of the driveways. If an elderly person or a person needing to take someone to the emergency room, or even just to get to work on time were to come out the morning after a big dump of snow, not only might they find themselves in trouble, but they may not be able to get help because everyone else is in the same pickle. For the person who said, "Just hire someone," I say to you, you have obviously never been an elderly or disabled person on a very fixed and tiny income.... or you have never been a young or single parent with a family who requires all the resources you have. Most of us can't just hire someone because A. They are all busy, or B. We can't afford to (which is true for many right now). I have attempted to go out and shovel the HUGE chunks of ice and snow that are left behind after snow removal and just about killed myself in the process. Surely there is a solution! IDEAS, anyone?

Obviously we live in a very snowy community and we have to deal with this the best we can and I think they do a fairly good job considering. By the way, I don't remember it being as bad in Calgary and I did live there for 16 years but that's besides the point and I'm sure there is lots of complaining going on there too as there would be anywhere it snows a lot. This is intended more as constructive criticism rather than a complaint. I strongly believe that we should have more graders that have a blade gate or a wing that drops down as they pass driveways to avoid blocking the driveways as it can be a safety issue! It frustrates me when I see the driveway blocked when I know it is easily avoidable. When I come home to a driveway that is blocked, I don't mind the work of shoveling but I really don't feel comfortable leaving my vehicle on a slippery street that is already too narrow while I take half an hour to shovel a path just to be able to pull the vehicle into safety. This becomes more of a safety issue when its really cold and you have young kids with you. The kids could be freezing at -30 in the safety of your yard as you spend the half hour shoveling to clear a path or you could leave them in the vehicle like sitting ducks on a slippery road that is already too narrow and hope other traffic can avoid hitting your vehicle... which is the lesser of two evils? I also feel for those that can't shovel the driveway themselves... how long do they have to park on the street before they can find someone to help shovel so they can pull into the safety of their driveway? I lived in DC for years as well and saw they use these to keep driveways clear and it does solve a lot of problems.

Well, I'd have to agree with Lynn. When you consider that there are ( on average ) 10 people on the roads crew, it's no wonder that the city can't keep up. I was talking to one of the guys there, can't remember his name kind of a chubby bald fellow, but there's not enough people or equipment to make everybody happy. Considering that they only have 5 guys per shift, and they all have to rotate..... I think that the are doing a heck of a job. I think that if people were a little less lazy and if they didn't expect so much out of FORT ST JOHN ( it is fort st john. come on ) they might manage to put a smile on their faces. If you are having problems driving around in the winter, I think that it's A.) Time to get some GOOD winter tires B.) Take a defensive driving course C.) Move away from Fort St John to a place like Grande Prairie where there is NO PLOWING. D.) Get rid of your Honda Civic. Dawson Creek's roads are the shits. As are alot of other towns in the North. I'd imagine that working for the city can be a daunting task at best times. It seems like the plow truck guy is the enemy. Nobody LIKES shovelling their driveway, but it won't kill you unless you are a heart-attack victim-in-waiting and in that case you'd be better off hiring your neighbor to do it for you. I think that the City does the best by what they have, and for the people who complain.....I'd like to see how they'd handle it any differently. Try driving a plow truck IN TOWN with vehicles in the way, parked cars, pedestrians, obstacles, all on top of bad conditions, and just see how you make out. Here's to the Public Works crew who get repeatedly dumped upon with rotten comments. I think in the last 15 years, it has improved drastically. Keep up the good work!!!!!!

Obviously, you have all the answers and are a very smart man. Good job. You forgot one thing. You're already prejudice towards union workers; therefore, your opinion does not count. Fin.

I'd like to see where you get your goofy ideas. You have no facts. The city does the city core first. Priority 1 - All Major Thoroughfares Priority 2 - Transit Routes Priority 3 - Downtown Core Priority 4 - Residential, Commercial and Industrial Collectors Priority 5 - Remaining Residential, Commercial and Industrial Priority 6 - Commercial and Multi - Family Lanes Got that? How bout you go move to the councilor's houses so that you get done first. Or, perhaps you'd like to move near the mayor.....although it wouldn't benifit you in any way. He lives out of town