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Winter Wise Program
Winter in the Lower Mainland can mean a variety of weather - from ice and snow, to wind and power outages, to rain and heavy flooding. The information on these pages will help you learn about the City’s operations during these events, as well as your responsibilities and how to be prepared for any emergency.
Report an Area of Concern During a Snow Event
To report an area of concern, please use our real-time Coquitlam Snow Response Request tool. Note that while snow is falling or until the primary roads are cleared, the City will not be addressing local roads or lanes.
During a snow event, City roads are plowed according to a priority system aimed at supporting the greater public safety and public transportation access:
- Priority 1 - Maintain accessibility for emergency vehicles and transit vehicles on collector, arterial and emergency and bus routes that connect major sections of the community.
- Priority 2 - Maintenance of safe travel routes and accessibility for vehicles on streets classified as Priority 2 routes, including non arterial and collector routes that provide access to school sites, community care facilities and subzones that contain a high percentage of local roads with grades in excess of 10%, during icing and storm conditions. Priority 2 route response may be advanced, or delayed, due to event intensity, severity or duration.
- Priority 3 - Maintain safe travel routes and accessibility for vehicles on all remaining routes. Clearing these routes may be advanced or delayed depending on the weather event’s intensity, severity or duration.
Private roads are not maintained by the City. Residents need to contact their Property Management Company or Strata for concerns related to their roads.
View the Coquitlam Snow Response Plan Map (PDF).
To help us better serve you during a winter weather event, please remember the following:
- During rain or heavy wind, please remember to clear the catch basin in front of your home to help avoid flooding.
- After a snowfall, residents must clear their sidewalks within 10 hours. Remember to shovel the snow to the back of your driveway. If you shovel onto the street, the plow will push the snow back onto your driveway and sidewalk.
- When salting to prevent ice build up before a snow or frost event, please do not use excessive amounts of salt as excessive sodium chloride levels can have a negative effect on freshwater aquatic life when the ice and snow melts and the water enters our storm drains.
- The recommended application rate of salt is 20 grams per square metre, which is approximately one handful of salt.
- If you need help shoveling snow, our Snow Angels may be able to help you.
- During heavy snowfall, garbage trucks may not be able to access your street. Simply bring the carts in that night, and put them out again the next morning. If your carts are still not collected the next day, bring them back inside until your next regularly scheduled collection day.
- There are certain areas of the City with parking restrictions from December 1 to February 15. Please see the "Parking" tab for more information.
Parking Restrictions
Parking restrictions are implemented in certain areas of Coquitlam to assist City crews in making our streets safer for winter driving during snow events.
From November 1 to March 15 each year, parking restrictions will prohibit all on-street parking in certain areas during snow events - having the streets free of vehicles allows City crews to plow streets clear from curb to curb making the streets safer for winter driving.
Coquitlam drivers are asked to follow all posted parking restrictions, keep the streets free of parked vehicles and park in driveways and on private property. In addition to allowing our crews to make our streets safer, this will prevent drivers from having to dig out their vehicle, and avoid a ticket or towing.
Restrictions in Place & What You Need to Do
The restrictions are activated every time snow is in the forecast until the end of the snow event and the streets are clear. The City will advise when the parking ban has been activated in the following ways:
- The City’s website
- Public Service Advisories to the media
- Email to residents who sign up for notifications from the City via the Winter Parking Restrictions Notification Email List
- Digital message boards
Parking Restriction Locations
This Parking Restrictions Map (PDF) indicates the locations of restrictions, as well as the existing one-side of the street restrictions in problematic areas.
Parking Restrictions Notification Email List
Subscribe to the Winter Parking Restrictions email listserve, and you will receive email notifications when the parking restriction is activated and in place due to a forecasted snow event, as well as other important updates.
Sometimes snow will prevent garbage trucks from accessing certain streets and the best way to get timely information about garbage collection is through the City’s ReCollect app, available for download in the App or Google Play store. More information on this tool is available on the Garbage and Recycling Collection Calendar and Guidelines page.