Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 08/02) - Backing out of her driveway earlier this week cost Jennifer Pagonis over $1,000.

It happened after the city cleaned the snow from portions of Borden Avenue.

Jennifer Pagonis wants the city to pay up for the cracks in her bumper. The damage occurred when she backed out of her driveway after snow was cleared from Borden Avenue. - Nathan VanderKlippe/NNSL photo

Forcing the snow up from the surface of the road, the grader left a 30-centimetre lip of hard-packed snow at the end of Pagonis' driveway.

When she backed out, the nose of her car slammed down on the edge of snow, cracking her bumper.

"It's not like I'm recklessly driving out of my driveway. My front end smashes down and it cracked the whole front end," she said. "I have two kids and I'm pregnant. I can't be out there chipping away at a 12-inch ice palace."

"Now here I am stuck with this bill for over $1,000. It isn't even my fault, and my insurance goes up if I (make a claim)."

Other city residents have had similar experiences.

One concerned resident said that before the snow cleaning, residents would leave a ramp of snow at the end of their driveway to ease a car's path up to the road.

But when the city clears snow from the streets, that ramp leaves a sharp drop at the end, leaving some people with damaged front ends, said the man, who asked that his name be withheld because of work on a city contract.

City public works director Greg Kehoe said the city saves money if it leaves an edge after the grader goes through.

To eliminate the edge would mean the use of additional equipment, which would mean extra cost, he said.

"The city would incur increased costs for snow removal, which of course would be passed on to the residents. We leave it to the homeowner to level it off," he said.

Kehoe said the city is also leery of elbowing its equipment onto private property for fear of damaging vehicles parked near the street.

That's not enough for Pagonis, who is demanding that the city pay her back for the damage to the car.

When people damage their vehicles on city routes, they usually lodge an insurance claim, said Kehoe.

"Their insurance company decides whether to make a claim against the city or not," he said. Kehoe said he can't recall the city paying for a resident who damaged their vehicle after snow removal.

The city of Yellowknife cleans snow from main thoroughfares twice a year, and once for residential streets. The removal schedule for next week had not been set at press time.