Snow stops, traffic moves

FCH

Snow stops, traffic moves
The overnight freezing that's being forecast is better than a quick thaw, says weatherman
Maurice BridgeVancouver Sun

Friday, December 01, 2006


Commuting patterns and travel times around the Lower Mainland are getting closer to normal as temperatures move above freezing and the snow begins to melt.

Environment Canada is calling for mostly dry conditions over the next two days, which should allow the runoff to escape in a manageable fashion.

"Temperatures should be above freezing during the day and below freezing at night," said meteorologist Greg Pearce.
"You're going to see melting and then refreezing at night, so anywhere there's water pooled or water running across the roads, there's a chance it will get quite icy during the overnight periods."

He said there is a chance of rain Saturday.

On Thursday, Murray Wightman, Vancouver's manager of street operations, sent his crews home at their regular quitting time of 3:30 p.m. for the first time since they began fighting the white stuff last Saturday. A night shift of salting trucks was expected to report for work at 9:30 p.m.

Wightman said sub-zero nighttime temperatures should not present a major problem.

"I would rather have that than be dealing with heavy rain," he said. "That would just cause so many more problems for us."

Because of the accumulation of salt brine on the major roads, temperatures of one or two degrees below freezing are not enough to cause them to turn icy, he said.

However, there is no end in sight for BC Hydro crews as they work to repair the damage caused by trees falling on power lines around the Lower Mainland and southern Vancouver Island.

Hydro representative Elisha Moreno said it will take about a week to repair the damage, as well as continuing power failures caused by weakened trees and branches that are still falling.

New power failures hit several areas in North Vancouver Thursday, but crews managed to restore power to thousands of homes in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody.

The largest problem area is the Gulf Islands, where some 7,000 people are still without power. The power is also off for about 3,000 people in the Island town of Duncan, while 7,000 are without power in the Greater Victoria area.
Transit operations were getting back to normal around the Greater Vancouver Regional District on Thursday, although melting snow was causing problems for some buses.
TransLink spokesman Drew Snider asked bus riders to be patient if their buses are late, adding delays could run anywhere from five to 20 minutes today.

SkyTrain was running well, with trains operating at close to full speed. Snider said today is expected to be the last day the system will operate with attendants on all trains.

Capacity will be up to 98 per cent of the usual amount.
SkyTrain president Doug Kelsey apologized Thursday for a delay that kept riders waiting for at least an hour-and-a-half during Wednesday's evening rush hour on the Expo line.

A motor on one of the trains malfunctioned, setting off a chain reaction that shut down all trains on the line until they could be checked.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said TransLink is in the process of getting better communications equipment that will inform commuters faster about problems in the system.

mercy2004

Thank you,dear FCH!