City snow-clearing operations aim to maintain City roads and sidewalks in a passable condition through the winter. In 2014,
Council adopted a snow and ice control procedure that categorizes the City's 670km of roads and 184km of sidewalks into three priority groups. See "Snow Clearing Priorities" below for more information.
Each road in Prince George is assigned a priority.
Snow Clearing Priorities
Priority One Roads
These are to be completed within 48 hours of the end of a snow event
- Main arterial roads
- Downtown Central Business District. This includes the area bordered by 1st and 15th Avenues and Vancouver and Queensway Streets.
- Priority hills
- Hospital District
- Civic Facilities entrances, priority parking lots, and pathways
The Hospital District includes the following:
- Alward Street from 15th Avenue to 10th Avenue
- 10th Avenue from Alward Street to Laurier Crescent
- Laurier Crescent from 10th Avenue to Lethbridge Street
- Lethbridge Street from Laurier Crescent to 13th Avenue
- 13th Avenue from Lethbridge Street to Winnipeg Street
Priority Two Roads
These are to be completed within 48 hours of the end of snow event. Priority Two routed include all bus routes that are not main arterial roads, and all commercial/industrial roads
Priority Three Roads
These are to be completed within 72 hours after Priority Two Roads are complete:
- Residential roads and lanes
- All remaining Civic Facilities parking lots
- Select park facilities, parking lots, trails, and pathways
What is a "Snow Event"?
Snow events require snow accumulations of more than 75 millimetres within a 24 hour period. Should a snow event be declared, the City will mobilize its snow fleet together with contracted equipment to achieve levels of service outlined in Council's Snow and Ice Control Procedure.
Outside of snow events, the City will utilize its own fleet to regularly maintain the road and sidewalk network by plowing and sanding as required.
Parking Restrictions
As per
Bylaw 8625, parking restrictions are in place from October 15 – April 15 of each year to assist with snow and ice control operations:
Priority One roads and hills, the Hospital District, and a number of other designated roads – on-street parking is prohibited from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Downtown – on-street parking is prohibited from 12:00 a.m. (midnight) to 7:00 a.m.
Residential areas - no on-street parking between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Parking odd side only is allowed from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. unless otherwise posted.
Illegally parked vehicles are subject to a $50 ticket per offence and/or may be towed.
Be Prepared
The City's snow and ice control operations work to maintain municipal roads and sidewalks in a passable condition, and enable access to civic facilities and parks. It is not intended to eliminate all hazardous conditions at all times. Do your part to prepare for winter road and sidewalk conditions:
- Equip your vehicle with winter tires
- Allow yourself more time to travel
- Getting the weather forecast
- Taking public transit
Council Procedure – Snow and Ice Control
Snow Statistics
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do when utilities or fire hydrants get buried?
If you notice any above-ground utility equipment such as hydro, telephone and cablevision boxes, and fire hydrants become covered during snow removal operations and a marker is not visible, Please contact the Service Centre at 250-561-7600.
Why don't you just tow the cars off the street that don't observe the parking bans?
Vehicles obstructing operations are subject to $50 tickets and/or impoundment. Impoundment involves a towing company and considerable time, so rather than hold up our equipment, we will usually ticket the vehicle, and plow around it. If there is a car on your street that has never moved, call the Bylaw Department at 250-561-7622.
Can you reduce costs?
We try to keep a good balance between levels of service and expenditures by continually trying to improve our service without increasing costs. Generally speaking, actual costs depend on the weather. The more snow and ice, the more it costs.
Why do the plows go so fast?
Plows do have to go a minimum speed in order to throw the snow off to the side. We do ask our drivers not to drive faster than necessary. In some cases however, shrubs, fences, walkways and driveways close to the curb cannot avoid getting snow on them.
I'm very concerned about our environment. Why don't you eliminate the use of salt?
Salting is much more economical for small amounts of snow when the road surface temperatures are warmer than -7° Degrees Celsius. The salt content used in our sand/salt mix is minimal (approximately 2%) and serves to prevent the freezing of the sand in our sand trucks. Direct salt applications are very expensive and are used only when necessary. We are working on a salt management plan to ensure we use salt only when necessary, and manage it properly.