Garbage pickup schedules are getting back on track this week after snowfall delayed service in many parts of the Tri-Cities last week.
In Coquitlam, the northern parts of the city were hardest hit with snow, making it difficult for garbage, green waste and recycling trucks to access neighbourhoods such as those on Burke Mountain and Westwood Plateau, said Kathleen Vincent, the city's manager of corporate communications.
But service was also affected in older southwest neighbourhoods, where laneway collection is more common.
"[Laneways] are a lower priority in terms of plowing," she said. "That means that, given the extreme amount of snow received, the snow impacted collection in all neighbourhoods."
The city did not have data on recycling collection, which is overseen by RecycleBC, and all green waste collection was suspended last week to allow crews to focus exclusively on garbage collection.
Still, more than 60 blocks were missed on their scheduled collection day, although Vincent said most were serviced the next day or by the end of the week.
She urged residents to sign up for ReCollect (www.coquitlam.ca/recollect), which provides updates and waste collection reminders over an app, text or email messages.
"As soon as we make any changes to our waste collection services, we send out alerts," she said.
Vincent noted that if anyone has yet to receive garbage pickup and requires service, they can contact the city's engineering customer service line at 604-927-3500. She said the city trucks are returning to some homes this week "on a case-by-case basis."
Port Moody waste collection also experienced some delays last week.
Jeff Moi, general manager of engineering and operations, told The Tri-City News the biggest service disruptions occurred in the Wednesday pickup zone, which consists of Heritage Woods and Heritage Mountain.
He said Port Moody also suspended green waste service and recycling, which is collected every two weeks, was not scheduled last week.
Last Monday and Tuesday, the city was able to pick up waste at 70 to 80% of homes, but last Wednesday, when snow accumulations were at their worst, all collection was suspended.
"Residents were advised that we would be back the following week to collect recycling, green waste and garbage," Moi said.
He added: "We greatly appreciate the public's patience last week as we made changes to the waste collection schedule to ensure the safety of our workers and our residents."
Port Coquitlam's engineering department managed to escape the snow without any service disruptions, said Tom Madigan, the section manager of the solid waste and fleet services.
He said that trucks were equipped with tire chains to help the navigate the snowy streets and garbage collectors worked in tandem with snow-clearing to make sure routes were passable.
"The only challenges we faced by staff were residents who did not put out their material for collection at the required times," Madigan said. "Trucks were sent back to pick up any of these misses."
