Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 09/02) - Why does snow pile up on sidewalks and into the end of driveways when graders pass?

At least one concerned caller wanted to know and called Yellowknifer to express anger about having to shovel out the mess the city makes.

But according to city officials, keeping streets and sidewalks clean of snow isn't as easy as it might seem.

"Graders push snow from the city street to the curb, and occasionally ... the snow spills onto the sidewalks," said public works director Greg Kehoe.

Graders usually pack snow into solid drifts on either side of the road. When that happens it sometimes falls onto the sidewalks.

Equipment operators also work the other way -- pulling snow from the curb to spread over the road surface. But when the road gets rutted snow gets pushed back to the curb, to smooth out the road.

"So it's a real balancing act," said Kehoe.

Sidewalks are residents' responsibility to clean. But, said Kehoe, "They're allowed to put snow from the sidewalk into the street."