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Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows crews ready for more winter weather

Enough salt and sand to last the season
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City of Maple Ridge says crews have enough resources for whatever winter weather comes its way this season. (The News files)

Engineering operations at both the Cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are confident there is enough salt and sand stockpiles to get through the winter – given the unusual snowy conditions.

Crews have been out in full force lately clearing snow and ice from the roads and there is another winter storm warning being issued by Environment Canada for Wednesday, Jan. 5, into Thursday, Jan. 6.

The City of Maple Ridge had 5,000 tons of salt and 150 tons of sand stockpiled for the season and crews have already used up 1,700 tons of salt and have already replenished the sand stockpile from local sources.

“We typically only use the sand in the eastern part of the community where the roads don’t see sunlight as much as in the western part of the community,”explained Fred Armstrong, spokesperson for the City of Maple Ridge.

Armstrong said the operations staff learned from a bad winter a number of years back that saw a shortage of salt across the continent. They developed a business plan, he said, that was passed by council, and included the construction of a storage shed that holds 5,000 tons of salt, and and additional two bins that hold 150 tons of salt each.

“This approach means that we have ample supplies on hand, and are able to resupply outside of the winter season when pricing is better,” said Armstrong, adding that their operations staff are always shopping around, off season, to make sure the city is getting the best pricing.

In addition, Armstrong added, city crews completed special training in the fall of 2021 to operate in snowy conditions, and have equipped 12 vehicles in their fleet with sanders and snow plows to be ready.

“Our team looks at the long range and short range weather forecasts to ensure that we have crews scheduled and on standby and equipment ready to deal with the specific storm impacts. The team is prepared for the short term forecast of additional snow in the next week,” said Armstrong.

READ MORE: Outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the snow in Maple Ridge

In Pitt Meadows the city’s budget for snow removal and the salting of streets in 2022 is $150,000, which hasn’t been touched. And only 38 per cent of the 2021 budget has been used so far, explained Carolyn Baldridge, spokesperson for the City of Pitt Meadows.

At the beginning of October the city had 600 tons of salt stored on site for use this winter. To date crews have used up 360 tons. However, on Thursday, Dec. 30, the city had 110 tons of salt delivered and have ordered anther 300 tons that is to be delivered by the end of this week.

ALSO: New record low temperatures hit Pitt Meadows

Baldridge said they are prepared to continue to remove snow as needed across the city.

“Supplies are ordered mid-season,” explained Baldridge.

And, she added, there has been no indication of supply chain issues.

Armstrong noted it’s too early to tell if the city has gone over-budget for winter snow removal since it will be a couple more months before the chance of snow diminishes.

“The latest we have had snow in recent years was at the beginning of March,” noted Armstrong, adding that the city has a reserve fund set-up to ensure that there is funding available for particularly big years of snowfall to mitigate any impact on an individual budget year.


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Colleen Flanagan

About the Author: Colleen Flanagan

I got my start with Black Press Media in 2003 as a photojournalist.
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