Plow crews working 24/7, more snow expected

Drivers in Vancouver can expect side streets and alleys to stay slick and thick with snow as plows concentrate on keeping arterials and hills clear.

Another dump of snow is expected on Christmas Eve, and the city is already nearing its snow-clearing budget of about $750,000.

“I’ve been doing this for a very long time,” said Murray Wightman, Vancouver’s manager of street operations. “At no time has city hall ever said, ‘Stop, pull back.’ We do what it takes to get it done.”

Plow crews have been running 24 hours a day, concentrating their efforts on major streets and bus routes first and steep residential streets that feed onto arterials second.

“The regular city side streets will not be treated by us … we have to draw a line here and keep the majors and bus routes free.”

But the snowy side streets are fine with some commuters, including Pascal Wehr, 30, who cross-country skied yesterday from his home in Kits to his work on Main Street.

“It’s awesome,” Wehr said. “It’s such an experience. The roads were snow covered and I figured that the easiest way of getting to work — as I do as much as possible — is self-propelled.”

Metro News

Recycling happens less in multi-family dwellings; Metro Van to instill changes

City will have to look for ways to make recycling easier if waste reduction targets are to be met

Nicole Tomlinson, Special to the Sun

Relatively poor recycling habits in townhomes, apartments, and condo units could trash Metro Vancouver's ambitious waste reduction goals if they don't improve soon.

Residents in multi-family dwellings recycle a quarter of their waste -- less than half the proportion of material that people who live in single-family homes throw into the blue bins.

Metro Vancouver has identified improving this "underperforming" sector as a key element to successfully upping recycling rates to 70 per cent within the next five years.

But experts and critics say it's going to take more than increased regulation and changes to the waste program to get multi-family unit recycling rates out of the garbage.

AN AMBITIOUS PLAN

Metro Vancouver unveiled a strategy to up the total amount of waste being recycled by close to 20 per cent across the region earlier this year after a proposal to build a landfill in the Interior was scrapped because of potential First Nations land claims.

To realize this goal, the region will have to do three main things -- recycle more organic waste, reduce refuse from construction projects, and get multi-family units turfing less, said Marvin Hunt, chair of Metro Vancouver's waste management committee.

Residents in townhomes, condos and apartments are only recycling 25 per cent of their waste, compared to 52 per cent of people in single-family homes, according to Metro Vancouver's strategy for updating their waste management plan.

And with some 150,000 units classified under the multi-family umbrella in the city of Vancouver alone, the issue shares sustainability ranks with adding composting to residential pickup services and overhauling construction bylaws.

"It's simply a challenge of our convenient living," Hunt said. "We have to find ways of making recycling more convenient in those buildings."

Continue reading Vancouver Sun article.