Officials encourage area residents to take care if they hit the road

The city of Vancouver is preparing for a wave of arctic air and freezing rain that is expected to create hazardous driving conditions over the next few days. 

“We hope that anyone with plans to hit the road for work, last-minute holiday preparations or travel to celebrations later in the week will pay close attention to evolving conditions and not take unnecessary risks,” said City Communications Director Laura Shepard. “If you do need to head out, take is slow and make sure your car is equipped with an emergency kit that includes warm clothes, water, and snacks.” 

Urgent Issues

For weather-related city issues that need an urgent response, such as traffic signal outages, downed trees, or broken water mains, call the Public Works Operations Center at (360) 487-8177. For downed power lines, call Clark Public Utilities at (360) 992-8000. Severe weather updates are also posted on Public Works’ Facebook and Twitter feeds.  

Streets 

Vancouver Public Works Operations is ready to respond to expected inclement weather. After pavement dries from recent rainfall, crews will begin to apply deicing solution on dry streets and pretreat both intersections and hilly roads. Crews will start early on Thursday to continue the pretreatment process using deicing solutions for the morning commute and throughout the severe weather event. Crews and equipment are used to maintain primary and secondary routes, including major streets and overpasses, view the City’s snow removal route map. 

Operations crews are prepared to handle downed trees or limbs that may impact streets due to icy and potentially windy conditions. Crews also deice access to City-owned facilities, including police and fire stations. 

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services

Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services will provide updates to any delays, changes or closures to the City’s recreation centers, programming or camps at Cityofvancouver.us/ParksRecCulture. Community Center members and winter day camp registrants will receive email updates when weather-related changes are made to hours or operations. Customers may also call the recreation weather phone lines to hear a voicemail with the latest updates: 

• Firstenburg Community Center: (360) 487-7040
• Marshall Community Center: (360) 487-7065
• Sports Leagues: (360) 693-GAME

Garbage and Recycling Services

Snowy or icy conditions may impact garbage, recycling, and organics collections. Consider having spare containers handy that can be used to hold extra garbage and/or recycling materials should service be delayed due to hazardous road conditions. Customers can sign up to receive service alerts using the RecycleRight app.

As weather conditions evolve, the City will monitor and adjust our response as needed. To learn more about the City’s inclement weather preparations visit Severe Weather – Public Works Response.

Information provided by city of Vancouver.