YELLOWKNIFE - The temperature is increasing in Yellowknife, and so is the size of the puddles in the streets.

As they do every spring, city workers are struggling to clear streets of excess snow and drain the puddles.

"We have catch basins, and with everything melting all at once we've been trying to keep to keep water levels down," said Greg Kehoe, director of public works with the City of Yellowknife.

Catch basins help direct runoff into the lakes.

Kehoe said that in newer areas of Yellowknife, the roads have been built in such a way to direct water into the basins.

But large puddles are forming in the older parts of town.

"It seems to be melting within the last couple of days and that's very uncommon," Kehoe said.

He said the record amount of snow Yellowknife received this winter isn't the problem, it's that temperatures rose so suddenly.

"We just can't get to all the places we want to when we want to," he said.

Kehoe said that the city is working on a priority list to clear streets and get the water levels down. City workers are putting in extra-long shifts to deal with the problem.

"We want to maximize public safety and minimize property damage," he said.

Another hazard of street puddles is that oblivious drivers can end up soaking pedestrians from head to toe.

In an e-mail to Yellowknifer, Gary Tait reported his wife had become a victim of a splash-and-run.

Tait's wife and their child were soaked when a red pickup truck drove by them near Byrne Road and didn't try to either the puddle or slow down.

"Please be a little more courteous and slow down or go around puddles if there are pedestrians nearby," wrote Tait in his e-mail.

Kehoe also asked motorists to be courteous and not drive fast through puddles.