If the snow flies this winter, the City of Delta is prepared.
That’s the word from the city’s operations manager who gave Delta council an update on winter season preparedness at Monday’s meeting.
Trent Reid said city crews will clear public transit routes, major collector roads, select school access roadways and some roads in hilly areas first. Pre-wetting, salting, sanding and snow plowing are all carried out as long as poor conditions exist.
The second priority for crews are select secondary through roads in residential areas, select rural roads and school routes.
Minor residential streets and cul-de-sacs will be done last.
“Work is typically carried out on a site-specific basis, usually at the request of the residents and normally after inspection by a supervisor,” said Reid.
He said weather predictions for this coming season suggest a weak to moderate El Nino developing early this winter and that it might not be as cold or snowy as the previous two winters.
“We could expect extensive periods of warm and dry weather with brief cold and wet weather events,” he said. “All the same, engineering operations continue to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
Works yards in Ladner on 64th Street and in North Delta on Nordel Way are fully stocked with 1,500 metric tonnes of salt with access to more if needed.
Delta has the ability to make its own salt brine, which is used to pre-wet priority routes in anticipation of snow and ice, after purchasing a salt brine system now in full operation.
Delta also added a new tandem axel dump truck complete with sander and plows as well two sanding units and plows were purchased for the existing two-ton fleet.
Delta has launched its winter road conditions phone line at 604-952-3820 that provides a voice message every four hours during a snowstorm. Delta will also update its social media feeds during a major winter weather event.
Delta’s snow and ice control budget for 2018 is $339,500.
