The City of Abbotsford’s Operations team is one of our busiest. Over this past weekend with the heavy rain warning, if you were out and about, you likely saw them clearing catch basins and culverts throughout the community. They are the ones responsible for tending to our utilities, roads and fleets, parks and facilities, and for ensuring the reliable delivery of the most basic services that all of our residents rely on every day, like our water supply, waste collection, and even traffic lights.
As a City Council, it is a priority of ours that our City services are efficient and effective, and we are achieving this by continuously reviewing our resource needs and modernizing our services.
To get a sense of the important work done by our Operations team, last year they hauled approximately 11,000 tonnes of garbage and 13,000 tonnes of compost from curbside collection. In total, compost and recycling collection diverted 19,249 tonnes from landfills.
In terms of road maintenance, the team resurfaced 30 kilometres of road and added 1,385 enhanced reflective road delineators and signs. Since 2023, they have repaired 54 streetlight and traffic signal poles damaged by vehicle accidents and upgraded 155 streetlights to LEDs. They also performed street sweeping on approximately 1,075 kilometres of roadways and mowed about 1,025 kilometres of roadsides, 31 hectares of sports fields three times a week, 60 hectares of parks weekly and 10 hectares of boulevards twice per month.
As much as they make our city cleaner, they’re also making it greener. Last year they were responsible for maintaining 14 kilometres of trail edge vegetation and planting 15,000 annuals, 2,700 shrubs and perennials, and are in the process of planting 5,000 native trees and shrubs in City parks.
Members of this team also oversaw the supply of 26.7 billion litres of water and the treatment of 19.9 billion litres of sewage at the Joint Abbotsford Mission Environmental Systems water treatment plant last year. They also maintained 900 kilometres of watermain pipes, 574 kilometres of sewer main pipes, 538 kilometres of urban storm drains, 33 kilometres of dikes and more than 1,000 kilometres of stormwater ditches and pipes.
Our Operations team also maintains 500,000 square feet of facility space, from rec. centres, art galleries and libraries to police stations, fire halls and administrative buildings.
While the Operations team can often be seen around the community filling potholes, clearing catch basins or snow, and taking care of City properties, you know your neighbourhood best and we appreciate your help being our eyes on the ground. If you need to make a report to the City that is not an immediate hazard, please use the City app. If you spot an issue that is an immediate hazard, after business hours, please call the City’s After-Hours Emergency line at 604-864-5552.
As the cultural and economic hub of the Fraser Valley, Abbotsford is a rapidly growing city with more people than ever before who all rely on basic municipal services. We are grateful to the City’s Operations team for the vital work they do every day to make sure our residents get those services.
Abbotsford City Council