Some commuters trapped for 8 hours as snow wreaks havoc in B.C.'s Lower Mainland
Frustrated commuters were trapped in cars and buses for hours on end Tuesday night as snowy conditions wreaked havoc on highways and bridges across B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A series of crashes snarled traffic throughout the region, closing the Alex Fraser Bridge in both directions and causing major delays on the Lions Gate Bridge and around the George Massey Tunnel.
Semi trucks stalled and jackknifed on the Pattullo Bridge and the Queensborough Bridge as well, blocking lanes of traffic and contributing to a commuter nightmare that, for some, dragged on for upwards of eight hours.
Among them was Rajveer Kaur Bhatti, who decided to bus to work at Kwantlen Polytechnic University's Richmond campus on Tuesday after seeing there was snow in the forecast.
She spent seven hours stuck on a bus Tuesday evening, and didn't even make it halfway home to Surrey. The driver eventually told passengers they could step outside and walk to the nearby Nanaskar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple – still in Richmond – for shelter.
"That was the option he provided us, and without any doubt we chose that," Bhatti told CTV News on Wednesday after spending the night at the temple.
"They provided us with hot drinks. They provided us with phone chargers so that we can connect our phones and inform our parents, inform our families."
When she arrived, Bhatti said there were hundreds of other people already taking refuge from the cold inside, and others sleeping in their cars in the parking lot.
Road conditions were so poor and the delays were so long, some drivers described their commute as the worst they have ever experienced in the region.
Forecasters had issued a series of warnings earlier in the day, anticipating up to 20 centimetres of snowfall in parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley for the first major winter weather event of the season.
The traffic chaos that ensued was the result of a number of cascading issues, according to Mainroad Lower Mainland Contractors, the company responsible for salting and plowing highways and bridges across the region.
"Cars are sitting there idling and it's melting snow and then (it's) refreezing," general manager Darren Ell told CTV News. "Then more and more people start spinning out because they're uncomfortable with driving or their vehicles aren't prepared for the conditions, so it just creates bad on bad."
There were upwards of 40 plowing vehicles out on Tuesday, according to the company, but many drivers found themselves trapped in the same congestion as commuters. Ell suggested more people should have stayed home or delayed their drive to help prevent the issues that dragged into the early morning hours on Wednesday.
"People knew the storm was coming," he said. "But they all seemed to leave work at the same time, creating that congestion, creating that early rush hour and that just created the gridlock for us – we just couldn’t' get through that traffic."
CTV News has reached out to B.C.’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for more information on what led to Tuesday’s traffic conditions. This story will be updated if a response is received.
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Regan Hasegawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
B.C. child killer's lawyer walks out of review hearing
The lawyer representing child-killer Allan Schoenborn walked out of his client's annual review hearing Wednesday – abruptly ending proceedings marked by tense exchanges and several outbursts.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Juror dismissed in Trump hush money trial as prosecutors ask for former president to face contempt
Prosecutors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump asked Thursday for the former president to be held in contempt and fined because of seven social media posts that they said violated a judge's gag order barring him from attacking witnesses.
Why drivers in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will see a gas price spike, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
It's the biggest election in history. Here's why few Indians in Canada will take part
In the Indian general election that gets underway on Friday, almost a billion people are eligible to vote, but a vast majority of the overseas Indian community in Canada won't be casting a ballot.
McDonald's customers left with 'zero value' collection of free hot drink stickers after company ends program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Getting the lowest mortgage rates in a high interest rate world
The challenges facing home buyers mean it's all the more important to do research and negotiate on rates, mortgage experts say, though they also caution that there's more to focus on than just what looks like the cheapest upfront option.