Most notorious places drivers get stuck when it snows in Metro Vancouver

Navigating Metro Vancouver on a snow day usually follows a pretty predictable pattern.

Whether you’re driving or taking public transit — there’s a pretty good chance it’s going to be a mess.

But before we throw too much shade at drivers themselves, a lot of the frustrations have more to do with terrain and less to do with talent.

See if you can figure out which is which.

We’ve rounded up some spots in Metro Vancouver that have become notorious traps for motorists to get stuck, stranded, or slip when the snow falls in the region.

Vancouver – Granville Street Bridge

If you are wondering where all the buses are. pic.twitter.com/iGVxa2b4On

— Mike McDonald (@BCMikeMcD) January 15, 2020

Photos like these bring up the question each year, “Why don’t transit buses have snow tires?” as, one after another, the buses struggle to get up, spin out, and stall at this stretch on the Granville Street Bridge. While the photo of this happening during the January 2020 snowstorm was among the worst, it serves as a chilling reminder to bring a pair of gloves in case you have to walk to work because your bus does not make it up the hill.

Southbound traffic has now come to a complete stop on the Granville St. Bridge.@GlobalBC @KGordonGlobalBC @ECCCWeatherBC @MCC_Wx @weathernetwork #bcstorm #vancouver #traffichell #snow pic.twitter.com/UoW2yNp7O0

— S A Smith (@Smith442Smith) January 5, 2022

Other honourable mentions: Vancouver’s Oak Street and 70 Street in the Marpole neighbourhood — also a classic stuck-bus spot in the city.

February 10, 2021 (Darcy Matheson/Daily Hive)

Plus, Broadway near Fraser Street.

Port Mann and Alex Fraser bridges

Workers on the Port Mann Bridge, with ice flows on the Fraser River below. (Ministry of Transportation/Twitter)

While the bridges themselves are no more treacherous than other routes, it’s what is falling from above that gives drivers the biggest cause for concern. In recent years, there have been a series of ice bomb incidents, prompting expensive ICBC claims, as well as some near-death experiences. You can’t blame the drivers for this one!

Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby Mountain campus

Oh, SFU students, you overcome so many obstacles to get to class on a snow day that other students at lower-elevation institutions just don’t have to face.

When it comes to the conditions on this hill, it’s hard to find another one in the region to compare it to. But what makes it even more intense is that when the cars spin out, the buses stall, and service is cancelled. Oftentimes, students will still walk the 4+ km route up the mountain in the snow to make it to class.

Surrey/Delta – Highway 10 and Scott Road/120 Street

This massive hill appears to be a place where many drivers learn too late that you shouldn’t slow down when you are driving up a hill in the snow. Momentum is your friend!

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On snow days, this backup leads to traffic mess throughout several blocks on and off Highway 10 through Surrey and Highway 91 and Ladner Trunk Road in Delta.

Burnaby – Burris Street just before Canada Way

This route is a major one for SFU students as the 144 SFU bus goes along that way from Metro Town. We don’t know this to be true, but maybe the SFU gondola was dreamed up while some passenger was stuck on this bus time and time again throughout the winter months on this stretch.

All cities: Side streets

Caley Dimmock/Daily Hive

Side streets are the lower priority routes, meaning that while the highway might be ploughed, your block might not. Lanes are even lower down on the list. Despite this being a pretty constant strategy in the hours following a heavy snow event, some risk it anyway to mixed results.

One example was in 2017 when a total of 10 cars crashed on a steep one-block span on East 29th Avenue, a residential side street from Nanaimo to Kamloops streets in East Vancouver.

No, this wasn’t on purpose. Stay safe out there today #Vancouver! #DailyHiveVan pic.twitter.com/Ipsc37eLkT

— Caley Dimmock (@DimmockCJ) February 3, 2017

Conditions were so slippery that VPD showed up to close the street, and an officer was filmed accidentally going for a skate down the icy road.

Watch Related Video:

The entire road network of Port Coquitlam/Coquitlam

Slippery roads, abandoned cars and minor crashes all over Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. Anything with a hill is best avoided. Anything without a hill is probably icy #winter pic.twitter.com/5LcDOXsFZf

— Coquitlam RCMP (@cqrcmp) January 13, 2020

Okay, joking aside, these communities are very hilly and are not the place for new winter drivers to test their limits. Areas like Westwood Plateau are also higher in elevation, so while it might be raining in other cities like White Rock, it might be dumping snow up there, leaving some drivers shocked that seasons have practically changed during their hour-long commutes.

If you can stay at home this morning, do it. The @TransLink 555 can’t even make it up Austin Avenue. Four had to be abandoned. Roads are in bad shape, SkyTrain is delayed too. pic.twitter.com/a9TindJgki

— Nathan Pachal (@npachal) January 15, 2020

Where is the worst place to drive in your city? Let us know in the comments below.

With files from Kenneth Chan and Amir Ali

This piece was first published in 2022.