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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - After nearly two months, a sign marking the spots for disabled parking at city hall was installed on Wednesday.

Until this week, with no signs to mark them, anyone looking for the spots would likely have a hard time spotting the tell-tale blue under all the snow.

The new parking spots were completed late August along with the construction on the rest of the new spots, and were painted blue and marked with the handicapped symbol in early September.

But absent signs combined with record snowfalls and infrequent clearing meant few were able to tell where the spots actually are.

"There was a bit of a back order on the signs ... we'll receive them shortly," said public works director Dennis Kefalas on Tuesday, adding the signs would be put as soon as possible.

As of Wednesday, after several calls from Yellowknifer on Monday and Tuesday, one sign was put up in front of the parking area, a small cleared patch of accumulated snow revealing a mark of blue underneath.

"We are trying to clear snow more often than we usually do. We had it cleared off on Saturday and it snowed Sunday," said Kefalas.

"That's what happens at Christmas (time)," he added.

But it's important that people who may need the spots are able to use them, said Linda Noseworthy, manger of the parking placard program run by the NWT Council of Persons with Disabilities.

"If they're going to paint it, they should clear it, shouldn't they - so people can see it," she said.

Designated parking spots for the disabled are important for any business or organization, not just city hall, she added.

The spots are "for people who need to go pay their bills, who need to go see the doctor, need to do everyday things - even just to go and say hello," she said.

"It's important, very important, not just for the city, but for any organization, any business that delivers a service to any person in the Northwest Territories."