Snow Removal

This is one hot topic in the great metropolis of Grande Prairie every winter.  It has improved over the last few years, I will give the City that.  The main routes are done in a  more timely manner.  Residential roads, not so much, and I guess that's where the complaints begin.

In a recent article in the newspaper, the head of the snow removal department felt it necessary to remind all of us we live in Northern Alberta.  Where we get snow.  Every winter.  Hmmm.  Quite certain we never realized that little tid-bit of information before!

Then I read a similar article, from one of the editors.  Again, with the reminder we live where there is snow.  Still hadn't realized that.  Thanks for reminding us.  Again.  Apparently, those of us who live in the North have brains the size of peanuts or baby toes because we must be constantly reminded of our demographics.

There were a lot of years I often wondered why people complained.  I guess I had gotten used to the roads and invested in a vehicle with four-wheel drive. 

Also, I noticed many of the people in Grande Prairie complaining the loudest about our winter streets were often from back east (meaning Ontario and further east).  Why did they complain so bitterly?  I could never figure this out.  Until we lived in the little province of Newfoundland.  Now I understand completely!

In Newfoundland, they get SNOW.  Not light fluffy powder that takes twenty-four hours to accumulate six to eight inches.  Wet, heavy stuff that gives you eight inches in three to four hours.  Snow so thick and heavy you have to shovel/snow blow many times during a snow day.  Why?  If you don't, you'll never be unburied from it for the rest of the winter. 

This concept doesn't just apply to people's driveways in Newfoundland.  It also applies to their roads.  They don't wait till the snow quits.  They can't.  I tell you what, though.  Their roads are BARE within twenty-four to forty-eight hours following a snow storm.  All of them:  the mains, the secondary routes AND residential streets.  How do they do this?  How do they budget for this?  I don't know.  What I do know, is theirs is a poorer province than ours.  One that manages to budget wisely every year for amazing snow removal practices.

My question is this:  If a small, poor province can budget wisely AND carry out such exemplary snow removal, why does a wealthy city, in a wealthy province, have such a hard time delivering a similar service to its citizens?

Here's my take on all of this:  We don't need a 17 million dollar sports field.  We didn't need a 20 million dollar multi-plex in order to keep up to Dawson Creek.  City Hall doesn't need a $500,000 dollar renovation to make the main floor more "accessible" or "appealing". 

What we do need is the safety clean streets provide to each and every one of us driving the roads every day.  We should not have to own a four-wheel/all-wheel drive just so we don't get stuck backing out of our driveways.  We should not have to worry about sliding through intersections because they are too slippery to stop -- even if you were going at a crawl.  Most of the fender-benders around town during the winter would be prevented IF our roads were cleaned in a timely manner.

I believe the City of Grande Prairie can do better with snow removal.  After all, we ARE a Northern Alberta city that gets snow EVERY winter.  If they don't know how to budget and run a well-oiled snow removal program, perhaps they should visit Newfoundland to see how they budget and implement such an amazing snow removal program.

And, please, quit insulting our intelligence by reminding us winter comes every year where we live.