The District of Mission wants to ensure everyone is as prepared as possible to deal with winter driving conditions.
According to the district’s website, from November through February district staff conduct overnight winter ice patrols. Night-shift crews undertake a patrol whenever the ambient temperature at the Public Works Complex drops to two degrees Celsius or lower at the start of their shift.
Crews will brine roads if patrols find icy conditions or snow accumulation of 25mm or more, or when freezing rain or snowfall of 25mm or more are expected.
Priority one routes and transit routes are all pre-treated, with crews working to ensure this is done four hours prior to any anticipated weather event.
Crews apply a sand-salt mix to roads on non-snow days and when there are icy roads. Sanding is done on an as-needed basis when grit is required on paved surfaces to improve traction.
During winter snow or ice events public works crews work around the clock to clear ice and snow from roads. Clearing is prioritized across seven snow route areas.
Priority one routes are emergency routes, transit and school bus routes, streets in the business district, and parking on First Avenue. These are cleared first during all snow and winter weather events.
Once priority one routes are clear crews will address priority two routes, which are secondary collectors and primary residential streets.
Finally, once a snow event has ended and all priority one and two routes are clear and in good condition crews will address priority three routes.
All parking lots associated with municipal buildings will be cleared, salted and sanded by 10 a.m. the day following a snow event (municipal hall and public works complex will only be cleared on days they are normally open).
The District of Mission does not maintain the roadways along the two Provincial Highways – Highway #7 (Lougheed Highway) and Highway #11 (Mission Abbotsford Highway, including the Mission Bridge).
Businesses and residents are responsible for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks bordering their property.
Residents are also required to remove vehicles parked on public streets in order to allow safe access for snow plowing equipment.
In cases where vehicles are parked along the street, the roads will not be plowed until such time as the vehicles are moved. Fines will be issued for those not abiding by the bylaw.
For more information about winter driving, visit mission.ca.