City braces for massive snow dump
Officials hope to be better prepared after plow shortage, falling ice from bridges on Monday
Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley residents were bracing for what was expected to be a massive dump of snow Friday that would not only severely impact the morning rush, but force universities to reschedule pre-Christmas exams.
“We are as prepared as we can be and we want to reinforce with our customers, know before you travel (Friday) morning,” said Kevin Desmond, TransLink’s chief executive officer. “(It has the potential to be) an awfully sloppy day for commuters.”
Desmond was responding to a predicted major storm set to hit the region late Thursday and early Friday that would bring up to 26 centimetres of snow in some areas.
“The snow is expected to become mixed with rain Friday afternoon or evening over low-lying coastal communities,” Environment Canada warned. “For communities at higher elevations or inland, precipitation will remain in the form of snow through Friday night.” Another wave of precipitation was expected for Saturday, though that would likely fall as rain at lower elevations.
In Vancouver, the city on Thursday began pressing its entire fleet of 46 plow-enabled trucks into service, significantly ramping up from its response Monday when it got caught short with just over half that number of trucks.
This week’s icy and snowy weather caused the city to burn through more than double the amount of salt and brine used last year, added Ken Brown, the city’s manager of street operations.
At the University of B.C., there was concern that exams scheduled for Friday would be cancelled, particularly if TransLink cancelled bus service to and from the Point Grey campus.
If snow disrupts any scheduled exams at Simon Fraser University, cancelled exams will be rescheduled for Dec. 19, said SFU spokesman Kurt Heinrich.
The forecast also prompted B.C. Hydro to ask homeowners to be careful with their energy consumption, with the highest demand for electricity in the winter months between 4 and 8 p.m. weekdays.
After nearly about 80 vehicles were damaged by falling ice and slush on the Alex Fraser and Port Mann bridges Monday, the B.C. highways ministry said Thursday that work was underway to prepare both bridges for the latest snowfall.
On the Alex Fraser, crews have applied anti-icing solution on the bridge crossbeams and were planning to repeat this application throughout the day and evening Thursday, the ministry said. But if conditions got too severe, the ministry warned that it might temporarily close the bridge for safety reasons.
Emergency winter-response shelters across Metro were already in place for Monday’s snowstorm, according to both the City of Vancouver and the Greater Vancouver Shelter Strategy. The city opened 195 winter-shelter beds starting Oct. 14, with the last 55 added Dec. 1. An additional 200 beds have been opened around Metro by the GVSS, said manager Rebecca Bell.
The cold snap left North Vancouver OK Tire owner Doug Conway swamped with drivers trying to get winter tires. “My next available appointment is Dec. 19,” he said.