Road maintenance crews say they can only do so much in winter weather chaos

Drivers across the region had a long, icy commute home Thursday, and many took to social media to vent their frustrations, saying more could have been done to prevent the chaos.

But some of those working to maintain the roads say only so much can be done to mitigate challenging conditions.

Darren Ell with Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting says when temperatures drop as quickly as they did, the salt and brine on the roads freeze too. He says once temperatures get below -6 C, they become less effective.

“So that slows the process down,” Ell said. “Brine works a little bit colder so typically, when you have cold roads, you have snow coming down, it will stick to the roads. If you plow it off or if it’s cold enough, it will stick around.”

Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver says crews were out for days ahead of Thursday’s deep freeze, salting and brining the streets.

“Salt and brine assist with improving the condition on major routes ahead of snow accumulation but can’t entirely mitigate the challenging winter road conditions like those we saw yesterday evening when temperatures dropped rapidly, leading to the sudden appearance of black ice conditions across the city,” said City of Vancouver Manager of Street Operations Amy Sidwell.

“This was particularly challenging during rush hour, when there is more traffic on the roads, but our crews quickly worked to address the conditions with renewed brine and salt treatments, continuing with that work overnight. We’ve since seen conditions significantly improve as a result.”

The City of Coquitlam also says it pre-salted key routes in the city.

“Unfortunately, due to the intensity of the flurries which left surfaces quite wet quickly followed by plummeting temperatures, ice formed quickly on the road surfaces, especially on the north-south hills of southwest Coquitlam, making it difficult for commuters,” the city said in a statement. “
Efforts have continued today with crews applying a mixture of sand and salt in light of the ongoing extreme cold weather conditions.”

Ell says regardless of the situation on the streets, people need to be prepared for winter driving, and if you don’t feel comfortable being on the road, stay home.

“We have vehicles that we come across that are spun out that are not suitable for driving in winter events,” he said. “So again, if you don’t have to be on the road, don’t be on the road. If you don’t feel comfortable with being on the road, stay at home.”

Ell says it only takes one or two vehicles spinning out to create gridlock, which also delays plows and other trucks that get stuck in the same traffic.

He also says if you must be on the road during this type of weather, make sure your car is equipped with proper tires.