Snow causes havoc on Lower Mainland highways for Wednesday commute

If you woke up Wednesday morning thinking your commute to work would be better than the drive home Tuesday, think again. The snow is still causing havoc across the Lower Mainland’s highways and arterials.

Big issues are being seen on Highway 99 and Highway 91, and most of the problems seem to be south of the Fraser River.

One caller to CityNews told us about his commute, which was nearly as long as his work day. Scott left South Burnaby at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and to get from Highway 99 in Richmond through the Massey Tunnel, it took him another 7 hours.

“It’s taken me from 8:15 till 3:15 almost in the morning to go four kilometers, to go from Westminster Highway and the 99 … just to get through the tunnel,” Scott told us.

Alex Fraser Bridge not moving southbound. Video sent from family. #DeltaBC #BCstorm pic.twitter.com/UNy47WcnW9

— Tim James (@TimJamesCity) November 30, 2022

Jake called CityNews from the Alex Fraser Bridge, where he’s been trying to get around buses and trucks.

“The only reason there’s been movement is because people give up and turn around and go away. I don’t know where they think they’re going, but they put a u-turn and go away,” he told us. “Then the transit supervisor came and collected six or seven buses out of the crowd here and led them down the oncoming traffic [lanes].”

Been stuck in this traffic for 6 hours at this point, not sure how many more hours it’s gonna take. #AlexFraserBridge pic.twitter.com/yGTt1qV1cB

— Deepinder Gill (@deepindergill08) November 30, 2022

CityNews is receiving reports of abandoned vehicles along highways across the region, which are making commutes especially dangerous.

“I was just watching these people parking their cars and walking away,” caller Jim told CityNews. “Just stay in your car and, and deal with it. When you walk away while there’s another one a tow truck has to come over and [deal with it].”

In footage posted to social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, cars can be seen spun out sideways, semis jackknifed in ditches, and highway ramps totally clogged.

TransLink is urging transit users across Metro Vancouver to be patient, with “considerable delays” on parts of the system expected.

One video shows a seven-car pileup, which includes a TransLink bus, all in the ditch, sliding down a hill on 160th Street between 28th and 30th Street in South Surrey.

New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone pleaded for drivers to avoid the Pattullo Bridge, as the backlogged traffic would take hours to clear.

Pattullo is now open southbound, but please avoid heading that way. It is going to take some time to clear this backlog. Cars here on McBride have been near stationary for hours… pic.twitter.com/WI5vBdNlvK

— Patrick Johnstone (@PJNewWest) November 30, 2022

Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting, the company responsible for clearing major routes in the region, says that as of Wednesday morning, routes are starting to clear up.

“Some of the congestion like on the East-West Connector, that’s freeing up. There’s still some abandoned vehicles on certain sections of highway such as Johnson Hill, around north on the Queensborough Bridge. But for the most part, things are starting to move a little bit more freely. And we got our trucks out there widening out the roads as much as we can now and getting the slush off to the side,” General Manager Darren Ell told CityNews.

Someone decided “nope,” and just left this evo in the middle of the street on a hill in a snowstorm. #BCStorm pic.twitter.com/9rGCTAEDfa

— meghan_wise (@MeghanWise_) November 30, 2022

Ell explained that it wasn’t just commuters that got stuck in traffic blocked by abandoned or spun-out vehicles and trucks, so did Mainroad’s plows.

“Just like the Alex Fraser Bridge, it just took one truck and a bus to spin out on the bridge, to not let vehicles through. It just created that gridlock.

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“Once that happens, more people start spinning out, and it just becomes a big domino effect. It takes a while once we have that gridlock to get the tow trucks out, to get our plow trucks out. Our plow trucks got stuck in all that traffic and gridlock so they can’t get anywhere as well,” he explained.

Compared to years gone by, Ell says the Lower Mainland knew this storm was coming. Snow has been in the forecast for about a week or so, and it was expected to start later on in the day.

“I think people left it a little bit late to get home. And then once they got into that traffic, the snow started to fall quite heavily. And once that happened, people just slow right down, people start spinning out more and more, just got stuck in traffic. So, I think people just left it a little bit late in the day to get out. And maybe should have either stayed home or just got to go to work a little bit earlier,” Ell said.

Ell is reminding drivers to be cautious and drive to the conditions.

“Be patient. We’re out there trying to do the best we can. We’re trying to make the roads safe as possible at all times, and sometimes it takes a bit more time than we think sometimes.”

Listen live to CityNews 1130 every 10 minutes on the ones for any major traffic updates. You can also follow us on Twitter @CityNewsTraffic or subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox.

–With files from Dean Reckseidler and Raynaldo Suarez