Snowfall, icy roads and hazardous road conditions have impacted everyone in Mission this week.
For three straight days, public schools were closed and many people chose to bunker down in their homes rather than head out to work.
However, if you are employed by the District of Mission’s public works department, you didn’t miss any work this week.
The department has had crews on duty 24 hours a day, trying to stay ahead of the weather and keep roads as clear as possible.
“It’s been a bit crazy since Sunday,” said Dale Vinnish, assistant operations manager of public works for the District of Mission.
He said that crews try to keep “priority one” roads clear first.
Priority-one roads are the main arteries that connect areas to the Lougheed Highway or other areas of the district. That includes transit routes, school bus routes and streets like Stave Lake Road, Cedar Street and Hurd Street, where the hospital is located.
Then crews move to smaller streets and side roads.
“What happens sometimes, when it continuously snows, it creates a problem,” Vinnish said.
Plows often have to return to the priority-one routes before completing, or even starting, some of the lower-priority roads.
“If we can get the main roads passable, hopefully people can get themselves to the main road and then they can go,” Vinnish said.
The district has 11 pieces of equipment for snow clearing – four tandem trucks, two single axle, two one-tons, two backhoes with front plows, and a grader – and at any given time there are four to eight trucks on the roads.
“We run all day and then we keep a certain crew into the evening and three or four that work through the night.
“A lot of people say, ‘Why don’t you buy more snow equipment?’ but what do you do with it when it doesn’t snow?”
Vinnish said in the four-day period from Sunday to Wednesday it cost about $125,000 to maintain the roads.
The snowfall also forced Mission Public Schools to close its doors for three days.
Angus Wilson, superintendent of schools, said road conditions are a significant factor in the decision to close, but it’s not just the road; it’s sidewalk conditions as well.
“Visibility is also a consideration, as is clearing school parking lots,” he explained.
Wilson called it a double or triple whammy that led to the closures. He also said the days will not be made up, at least not by adding more days to the schedule.
“Unfortunately, we do not make up the missing days. Teachers will revise their lessons to ensure that all aspects of the curriculum are covered.”
