Snow good: People are so salty over Vancouver's icy, snow-covered streets
There are a lot of salty people in Vancouver today, outraged over the City’s snow response following the first big snowfall of the season.
While the city had announced it was prepared and crews were out brining and salting, critics say the conditions showed the City wasn’t when the few centimetres came down yesterday afternoon.
The weather station at the Vancouver airport, admittedly actually in Richmond, reported that an estimated two cm fell on Thursday, but many would argue they saw a lot more on their street.
Regardless, others pointed out it wasn’t so much the snow but the ice that was the issue.
To say it was a skating rink on some roads would be an understatement. Many crashes were reported on Metro Vancouver roads, and some others became essentially parking lots due to the heavy delays.
9 pm Cambie Village area, all side streets are a skating rink. Since @CityofVancouver only has resources to salt the main roads , it could be a bit of a gong show tomorrow #bcstorm #vancouver #ice pic.twitter.com/XLX6y5Knts
— Robert McGarry (@rhmcgarry) January 12, 2024
The 2024 budget for winter maintenance is $2.4 million and response expenses are funded as required based on the weather, the City said, adding that the average amount is $5.4 million. Many would like to see more spent addressing snow clearing since it's a core service.
"Why weren't Vancouver's roads salted? We had plenty of warning. Black ice everywhere, and check out this line of stranded buses," another person wrote.
Why weren't Vancouver's roads salted? We had plenty of warning. Black ice everywhere, and check out this line of stranded buses.
Friend just now on Ken Sim failing at another core service: "Slipping and sliding on the ice is swagger" #vanpoli pic.twitter.com/eDurcmOARa
— Lindsay Brown (@Lidsville) January 12, 2024
"People dying on the streets forced out into the cold, carnage on the roads as the City only had five days' snow warning, and Ken Sim is tweeting about baseball. So typical," another said.
Others say they would like to see more crews out Friday, but so far, they haven't noticed them.
Not to belabour the point. Yes @KenSimCity's @Vote4ABC-led @CityofVancouver seems to have shirked its job Thursday to brine & salt streets but that was yesterday! Why have I NOT seen a single #Vancouver brinning or salting truck on W Broadway today?! There's still a need people!
— Stanley Q Woodvine (@sqwabb) January 12, 2024
The City says it does have people working today, and that conditions have improved.
"Today crews are out across the city responding to icy conditions by reapplying salt and brine treatments, which can be diluted following a snow event," the City said.
However, some don't agree and suggest the issue is not on City preparedness but on the motorists themselves.
"FYI for anyone saying #Vancouver had problems... this was in Kamloops... If you don't know how to drive in snow, stop blaming everything on lack of snow tires," they said, pointing to a recent video of a driver sliding down a steep, unplowed hill.
@freshdailyvancouver 🥶🥶🥶 #greenscreen #greenscreenvideo #bc #kamloops #britishcolumbia ♬ News23 News / Incident / Suspense(900450) - Kei
Vancouver isn't also the only city or area getting called out over snow clearing.
I got stuck in traffic for 3 1/2 hours this evening in #Burnaby & #Coquitlam - insufficient preparation by the municipalities to salt roads.
Most #Vancouver drivers don't have snow tires🤡
I have a 4x4 SUV with amazing winter tires & had ZERO issues on any roads. #bcstorm
— MrMasternode (@MrMasternode) January 12, 2024
BC's Lower Mainland highways are under contract to be maintained by crews at Mainroad, and they also saw a lot of complaints over the slippery conditions and heavy delays in Surrey, Delta, and Richmond in particular.
"Mainroad's not much better. This was not a surprise event. They could have prepped the streets Tuesday and Wednesday," another user said.
Highway 91 at Fraserwood Way, on the East-West Connector, looking east. (DriveBC)
"People need to be prepared for the the inclement weather, you know, if snow is falling from the sky, it's going to accumulate on the roads. It's never going to be 100% clear at all times. So if you're not prepared to drive, if you don't have a vehicle that is prepared for it, you know, people should stay home," said Darren Ell, general manager of Mainroad Lower Mainland.
"Our roads are very congested at normal times. And once you have one or two vehicles spun out, it creates, you know, a domino effect of issues on the highway," Ell said.
He says the roads are in great shape now.