I am writing to ask the people of Kamloops to help me in sharing an opinion with the City public works department.

I know that this season has seen a great deal of snow, and that managing it can be a challenge. But there are some serious deficiencies in the way that the bulk of it is carried out and two big issues stand out to me.

We have a house in a cul-de-sac in Westsyde that is only six or seven years old. The court was approved in size and dimension by the City. Both last year and this year, the City sends a plow truck to clear the court and it does not have adequate room to run directly through the court and clear the snow.

Instead, it piles up a large windrow about eight to 10 feet before my driveway even begins. This effectively removes any thought of parking in the cul-de-sac and my car can't pass without a major shovel job that usually can't be completed until the windrow has frozen into solid ice.

I called the City to complain, but they said it is too bad. What did I want them to do? The trucks don't fit.

This is unacceptable. Since when is it OK to provide sub-par service for my tax dollars? We would be better off with no snow removal because we can at least park in our driveways. "Too bad, so sad" is not the answer and to the public works department I say, don't make your problem my problem.

Someone at the City decided how to spec the streets and someone decided how to spec the plow trucks.

Is it too much to ask for these people to walk down the hall and get on the same page?

The snow removal in general has been thoughtless and poor, I have experienced. The trucks are piling snow, blocking parking and eliminating it in a lot of cases.

From what I have seen, it's probably because the guys have a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, but I can tell you that building a wall between the street and my driveway until you can make it back in three weeks isn't reasonable.

It would be better to do two passes the first time around or just don't bother.

I have seen several pictures from friends showing their "snow challenges" and I encourage readers to email these pictures to the City (publicworks@kamloops.ca) and demand some accountability.

TYLER SCHELL

Kamloops