The snowfall on Monday caught people by surprise, but Langley City and Township crews were out shortly after the white stuff began coating local streets.
The forecast had originally called for a chance of snow, but mostly at higher elevations.
“We had it in the back of our minds to be prepared, but we weren’t really expecting accumulation,” said Kyle Simpson, Langley City’s manager of engineering operations.
But the snow started coming down not long after the rush hour and quickly covered roads and sidewalks across Langley.
It was a day that had started off as a challenge for City crews because they were already dealing with a broken water main at 206th Street and 56th Avenue, and some staff had started their Christmas holidays.
“Overall, I think we responded quite well,” Simpson said.
Crews used the City’s three large dump trucks and four one-ton trucks, all equipped with plows and sanders, and attacked the primary and secondary routes around the City.
All the primary and secondary roads were cleared off by the end of Monday night, and on Tuesday crews finished clearing up a few more.
The City deployed about 80 tons of salt to keep roads ice free.