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MAP: See if your drive home will be a priority for Abbotsford snowplows

City of Abbotsford splits its roads into three priority groups to ensure major routes get cleared first.
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The City of Abbotsford will have eight trucks plowing streets once snow starts to fall Thursday.

When the snow starts falling, not all Abbotsford roads will get plowed immediately.

Instead, the City of Abbotsford splits its more than 900 kilometres of roads into three priority groups to ensure major routes get cleared first.

There are around 350 kilometres of such “first-priority” roads in the city – key arteries that are used by large numbers of drivers.

Another 170 kilometres of roadways are classified as “second-priority.” Those roads are remaining arterial and collector routes, as well as tricky hillside roads.

The final 393 kilometres of roads are classed as “third-priority,” and cleared last.

In addition to plowing, the city also uses an anti-icing spray prior to snowfall, and sands and salts after snow begins falling to address black ice and/or slippery conditions.

Crews will start with four anti-icing trucks throughout Thursday, with eight plows expected on the roads as snow begins to fall.

See the map above, or click here for a more high-resolution image that viewers can zoom in on.

The city has budgeted $1.1 million this year for anti-icing, sanding and salting, and snow plowing. That’s roughly the same budgeted each of the last four years.

But since 2012 – when the city spent $54,605 more than allocated – spending on winter responses has come in well below budget.

Last year, the city spent just $306,320, with more than $800,000 unused.

Under the city’s Good Neighbour Bylaw, residents are responsible for clearing their own driveways and sidewalks. Residents are asked to not plow snow into public roadways, but instead into one’s yard.