Two Prince George area residents spent five days unable to leave their home last week after heavy snowfall made the only road out impassable.
Dannie Sheppard and her husband Terry Hollett live on West Williams Road, approximately 20 kilometres south of Prince George off Highway 97. Heavy snowfall on Tuesday covered the road up to waist level, Sheppard said.
She and Hollett were only able to leave on Saturday, after a neighbour plowed a way to their driveway.
"My husband is 65 years old, he's not well. He couldn't possibly walk out of here. I have back problems. I have been taken out of here in an ambulance," Sheppard said. "If we had to call an ambulance, they couldn't get to us. We would be in dire straights if that ever happened. Our neighbours drives a big 4x4 and they couldn't get in or out."
Although a snowplow from Yellowhead Road and Bridge, the provincial road maintenance contractor, did plow a portion of West Williams Road shortly after the snowfall, Sheppard said, it stopped about half a kilometre short of her home.
"It takes them longer to turn around those big plows in the road than it would to come to the end," she said.
The plow returned on Saturday after a neighbour had already plowed a path for Sheppard and Hollett to get out, she added.
"Five days is not unusual for this road not to be cleared. About five years ago... I was [stuck] here for almost eight days," Sheppard said.
The couple have a powerful snowblower which they've used to clear a path out to the plowed part of the road on occasion, but it was no match for the heavy, wet snow this week.
She and her husband have limited incomes, and aren't able to stock large quantities of supplies to last for five or more days at a time, she said. One neighbour walked in with a few supplies to help them get through until Saturday, Sheppard added.
"If I was living on the side of a mountain in the Yukon, I'd understand. [But] I am less than 20 minutes from downtown Prince George," she said.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure said road clearing is based on road classifications, which are based on factors including traffic volume, types of users and corridor needs.
Main highways and arterial roads are cleared first, followed by school bus routes and roads supporting industrial uses, with other roads cleared afterward.
Yellowhead Road and Bridge cleared West Williams Road on Friday -not Saturday- the statement said, after major roads had been completed.
"The safety of our highways is our number one priority," the statement said. "The ministry constantly monitors the work of the maintenance contractors to ensure standards are being met. We appreciate the work our maintenance companies and their employees do. They do good work under some difficult weather conditions and we value their contributions."
