Kelowna in-town road conditions

[Otter]

Hi - From what I can see from my windows, the streets around my home are pure ice. Chopped up mess of ice. I've heard very few cars moving other than on the main road. Not a sign of sand trucks on the side streets. I'm in the downtown core three blocks from Bernard and am worried about taking out my car because that rough ice will play havoc on my tires.

And, yes, I have winter tires but they're rubber and that ice is a jagged mess.

Wondering how everyone else is getting on out there.

Tired of winter and it's only January 10th!

[Graham Adder]

I think your tires will be just fine.
If you're sick of winter already...move east for a couple of years and you'll appreciate how easy the winters are here.

[Kelo_Can613]

Yeah, winters here in the valley are a joke compared to out East. Move to Ottawa where each snowfall is 30 cm minimum and freezing rain is a common occurrence.

The snow removal and bus service in this city is actually pretty decent, considering.

[Graham Adder]

Yeah, winters here in the valley are a joke compared to out East. Move to Ottawa where each snowfall is 30 cm minimum and freezing rain is a common occurrence.

Keep heading east...
The closer to the drop off the edge of the planet, the worse it gets.
Add to the nasty weather an economy that forces the majority to learn to drive harsh Canadian winters on all season miss-matched tires and you soon see why winters in this valley look pretty rosey.

I really don't have an issue with Kelowna's roads this winter or any other in the past 18 years. Compared to the measure I grew up with, this is a piece of cake.

asanaside:
I always assumed driving in the mountains in winter would be the worst Canada would have to offer for bad driving conditions.
I learned I was wrong to make that assumption.

[Otter]

<sigh> FYI: I grew up in the Kooteneys and have been on just about every highway, back road, and country lane in the region. In both winter and summer. My father used to plow snow (he was a Cat operator) and I know what a properly plowed road looks like.

I was not talking about the highways, I was asking why the residential streets are not being looked after.

The street I live on had one pass from a truck with an attached blade a couple of days after that first heavy snow. That truck went one way, did not turn around and do the other side of the street. It left no sand, the blade barely took off the top layer and what was left looks like dirty, frozen waves. The corners are a mess, I’ve heard a couple of cars scrape against the tops of those “waves” and some spinning of tires as well.

And I live only a few blocks from the downtown core. I hate to think what some of the more distant roadways are like. Luckily, I’m able to walk to work (although that’s a real treat too with most of the sidewalks a mess as the businesses along the way seem to think scraping the top layer off and leaving the ice is acceptable. Never mind putting down any sand or salt.) but what about those who have mobility problems or don’t live within a “safe” walking distance?

Or do you have to have a Mercedes before the city will clean your street properly?

[Always Sunny]

Or do you have to have a Mercedes before the city will clean your street properly?

I wouldn't put it past them...because all I'm saying is that in the upper Mission side streets and crescents at the very top were beautifully plowed Monday morning when I started work (I'm not a fancy car owner, but I guess I don't mind living next to them).

[Otter]

I was talking with a friend of mine who lives out towards the college (the one on KLO Rd) and was told that their road is the same as mine. One swipe from the plow, no sand, and no return trip since the first heavy snow fall.

Another friend (who lived in Sweden for most of his life and is an excellent driver) set out this morning in his car, got two blocks and turned around and went back home because he deemed it too dangerous. He lives not far from me.

So, you see, it's not just me b******g about the lack of service on city streets.

When, oh when are we going to see another plow and a sand truck or two?

FYI, I still haven't bought that Mercedes nor a Caddy either.

Icebound in Kelowna,

[Verminator]

I always chuckle when I hear about how people have such a tough time coping with Okanagan winters, if you can even call them that. Think about waking up one morning and finding your house buried in 8 feet of hard-packed drifted snow and having to climb out a window just to get outside. Think about not being able to find your car because it's been completely buried. And think about the streets not being cleared for almost four days, during which there was no way to get around except by snowmobile or on snowshoes. Having been there and done that, the winters in the Okanagan are nothing but a minor inconvenience.

That said, the situation in Vernon's not much better. Even when the plows do show up, all they do is push the snow aside exposing the ice underneath, burying newly-cleared sidewalks and blocking driveways. If they actually hauled the snow away like they do in most places with real winters it might do some good. IMO just moving it to the side of the road makes things worse, not better. I have piles of snow so high at the end of my driveway that I can't see approaching traffic. Just leave the damned stuff where it is, I have good snow tires and my little FWD car handles it no problem.

[cutter7]

I realize that when we get heavy snowfall the main roads need to be cleared first. This year however the snow was so deep by the second day of heavy snowfall that my wife's car could not clear the snow and was stuck on the road.

I had to back it out when i got home and use an all wheel drive to pack the snow down to get the car past the last 3 houses and into our driveway so it was not blocking traffic.

Thankfully garbage day has come and the the garbage truck along with recycling truck have packed down a good amount of the snow and made a nice clear path.