Snow removal in Kelowna

[SmokeOnTheWater]

Delicate Kelowna princesses, fussy complaining people, and the spoiled, over-expectant, foot-stamping "demanding" elderly are a waste of skin.

Wow ... you like people much ? Waste of skin ? Wow ...
I would never complain about snow removal in Kelowna ( not enough snow to complain ) plus I don't drive much in the winter and when I do, I know how to drive in winter conditions.
Having said all that, the OP is right when he wrote " Kind of hard to plow the snow off the road if the blade doesn't touch the snow ". I have noticed that as well.
Winter ... what winter ? ... will be over soon enough ...
Go outside, have fun and enjoy the little snow we have !!!

[joer2012]

Wow ... you like people much ? Waste of skin ? Wow ...

"People"....not really. I like "normal" people. The rest, meh...

[Busdriver1964]

Comparing how bad Spokane sucks at removing their snow doesn't make these guys suck any less at it. The lesser of two evils is still evil.

If you are willing to foot the bill I will gladly enjoy the benefits

[normaM]

had a plow up and down 2 streets here for most of the afternoon. We must live near someone powerful or a bad winter driver. Crazy.. he removed the sand he had just put down 15 mins later and put down newer sand
Now it is as slippery as an eel ( like I'd ever touch an eel shudder)

[Always Sunny]

Goodness. I didn't complain this much coming back through the Kootenay pass last week after a gross snowfall.

Slippery, icy, snowing, then raining, then snowing, then freezing rain. Vehicles stopped in the middle of the road because of a lack of chains or improper tires for the roads.

A car hit a pole on Gordon? How flat is that road? Some drivers think they're invincible once they have snow tires on. The only reason I have snow tires is that BC (as a whole) is very hilly/mountainous. I drove my little Hyundai Elantra with a nice set of snow tires with record snow falls in northwestern Ontario for years with no issues. Loads of snow and ice, but the real need for traction is on the hills.

[fiscalmind]

I originally come from penticton

That explains part of it...

it doesn't really matter when you send the trucks out if their blades are up in the air.

They are saving your tax dollars on new plow blades, where i am from we call it "High plowing"

One trip to Icbc to have a look at the accident reports would shut them up in a heartbeat.

So your blaming the snow for poor driving habits?

[crookedmember]

In the CHBC report tonight, all of the vehicles pictured that went off the road or hit houses were trucks or SUVs.

It's amazing that some people think vehicles with high centers of gravity are immune to physics.

[motorhomebabe]

I think those SUVS and trucks think they are invicncible in 4 wheel

[baconbits]

8 inches of fresh snow Actually provides fairly good traction

But a inch of snow That is compacted in an intersection that is not sanded

That's what dangerous.

I agree 100%

[dodgerdodge]

If all your driving is on valley bottom then a set of all seasons with good amount of tread.
Is all that is needed, but if this turns out to be one of those rare years of more than normal snowfalls then winter tires are advised.

Until you cannot stop in time and end up another ICBC statistic. Its a fact that winter tires provide a much greater benefit on stopping distances and anyone out around Kelowna today will know that it was very very slick on all side roads and a lot of main routes too. Flat valley bottom or not i was totally glad to have winters on today.

[Always Sunny]

If all your driving is on valley bottom then a set of all seasons with good amount of tread.
Is all that is needed, but if this turns out to be one of those rare years of more than normal snowfalls then winter tires are advised.

That said, just having winter tires is only half the answer the other half is having common sense in driving skills.

Completely agree...which is probably why is only becomes compulsory after you leave the city limits (or where ever the signs are, sorry...not a geography wizard here).

A dry winter back home was still loads more snow than I've ever seen here and I don't know anyone who drove on anything other than all seasons. Accidents were far less frequent and based on the pictures they made a bit more sense than most of the ones you see out here.

Common sense is worth its weight in gold.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

Yeah, it was surprisingly slippery today, slid into 2 intersections today..no trouble at all on unpacked areas..
Of course its easy to say it was normal , if you were not out there..

[blackpowder]

Good winter tires and leave 30 minutes early!

[Jonrox]

I'm on board with putting the blame on the abundance of poor winter drivers - having grown up in the prairies I'm better equipped to handle the roads than most of the bad drivers here in Kelowna. I didn't have a problem negotiating the roads on Sunday morning, but they were terribly bad even on the main routes in the city (I also saw the car that hit the pole on Gordon and saw a fender bender on Springfield).

However my issue is that we don't need sanders and plows all that often in Kelowna. So for the city to fall down as badly as they did on Sunday when it would have really helped, is disappointing given that our taxes do pay to take care of the roads. To not even have the major routes and intersections sanded by 10am is pretty poor.

Yes, people should be able to negotiate poor driving conditions. But the city also has a responsibility to take care of the roads.

[erazmus]

Hmmm, drove to work this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find my residential street was sanded! Within 24 ours of the snowfall. This is the first time I can recall our low-priority street ever getting attention so quickly.