(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)

A North Okanagan community has decided to make a formal complaint to the province about the company contracted to clear snow from Highway 6.

Coldstream Mayor Jim Garlick said provincial contractor AIM Roads is not doing its job properly and the condition of Highway 6 is unacceptable.

"We want to let them know that we are not happy with that standard of service," Garlick said. "I think people understand during a major snowstorm that conditions are going to be bad, but when they continue on, then I think there is a problem."

The mayor said Highway 6 is very icy and even when driving slowly and very carefully vehicles are still sliding about and certain sections of the road are very dangerous. Garlick said some of the criticisms have come from the Lavington and Coldstream fire departments that are often on the frontline when accidents happen.

"(The fire departments) really noticed the quality of maintenance is not what it should be," he said.

Garlick said the idea behind writing a formal letter is to "let them know that we are not happy with that standard of service."

He was also critical of responses made by AIM Roads to the media regarding the situation.

"To say that the salting doesn't work is not the case, they can change to other types of salt like calcium chloride," he said. "There are alternatives available."

Garlick said this was the first time the District had written to the province about the issue in his 11 years as mayor.

"We're hoping there can be some improvement and some considerations... we want to make sure the roads are safe," he said.

According to AIM Roads website, the company signed a 10-year agreement with the Ministry of Transportation in March 2019 for maintenance and repairs of 5,000 kilometres of highways in the Okanagan-Shuswap area.

No one from AIM Roads was immediately available for comment.

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