Vancouverites could always tell if a vehicle was from out-of-town due to the salt and gritty exteriors of those cars in the winter. Well, that whole paradigm has changed with Vancouver having a winter wonderland twice in late December and with a repeat performance being scheduled handily for the weekend.
Motorists, cyclists and pedestrian commuters have all had their shares of thrills and spills, including the television station that always films cars unfortunate enough to try to go northbound on Oak Street between Broadway and 6th Avenues. Apparently BMWs fifteen years ago consisted of a lot of rear wheel drive vehicles. Apparently everyone that has a rear wheel drive forgets this fact until they get to this hill.
So why use salt on sidewalks and roads? While water normally freezes at 0 degrees centigrade, that threshold drops once you add salt, allowing everyone to move around a bit easier. With City Hall back to work after the annual holiday closure, the fire halls were pressed into service to provide-salt to eager Vancouver residents trying to make the sidewalks and roads in front of their residences a bit more walkable. And there were line ups around fire halls for salt, and even a pile of salt that was allegedly “stolen”-but I expect it has gone to good use on someone’s city sidewalk or roadway. “BYOB” in this case means “Bring Your Own (salt) Bucket”. Originally you were allowed to take two buckets of salt, but demand is now limiting Vancouverites to one free bucket per visit.
The City of Vancouver is now working with their 2017 year budget and quickly got to work deploying staff to remind residents that they have to clean off the walk in front of their properties. While all the Metro Vancouver municipalities require this action, when you need to do it by and what the consequences are if you don’t do it differ. CKNW has created a handy interactive map so you can view the regulations for your metro community.
Vancouver also has a “Snow Angel” program that matches those that can’t shovel out with someone who can. Enjoy the weather, watch your step, and remember Spring is a mere ten weeks away.
This salt shortage is very, very frustrating. With the weekly snowfalls and cold weather between them it’s really difficult to keep your sidewalk clean without it, yet it’s almost impossible to find. No doubt Murphy will deliver more salt than we could ever use just after the last snow event…
Interesting to see what Port Moody has done with all this, and how they’re trying to replenish their salt stocks – http://www.portmoody.ca/index.aspx?page=43&recordid=1693
I see Port Moody had targeted bridge sidewalks.
I walked along Clark Drive across the Cut to get to VCC-Clark Station and the sidewalk on the bridge (i.e. CoV responsibility, no doubt) was a thick sheet of ice.
It was good to see that the steep hill from Clark to the station (north side of GNW) was partially cleared – but it’s also a combined bike / pedestrian path, so I think that was probably for the bikes. The sidewalk from GNW to the station itself was a thick sheet of ice, forcing you to walk on the road. The bus stop on the other side of the street was clear though.
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Reblogged this on Sandy James Planner.
It seems some residents may not have much experience in shovelling drives and walks. The most important tip is, do it before the now gets packed down. Many of the icy sidewalks are a result of people delaying shovelling until it is too difficult to shovel anyway, and ice chopper blades are required.
We used to buy large bags of salt in September. They went in the trunks of the (then rwd) vehicles, for additional traction. If we needed salt during the winter, we put something else heavy in the back of the car for some weight over the drive wheels. It is unreasonable to wait until we have icy streets and then expect shops to have stocked salt all season.
Where can you find salt in Vancouver in September? I started the season with 20kg of salt which is more than I’ve ever needed before. I’ve already gone through 40kg – lucky I managed to find some before I ran out. But now I’m down to my last 20kg and I’m looking around for more because I’m not confident it’s going to be enough for the rest of this season.
Companies have made a science of “just in time” Inventory management – why on earth can’t the suppliers get their act together and get some salt out here? The stores have been completely out of it for the better part of a month now.
We used to put cinder bocks in the trunk of the car for weight.
The key is to reduce the number of trips you need to take, allow more time and use alternate means where possible.
i.e. don’t expect to be able to adhere to your usual routine and schedule.
Yesterday the City of Vancouver had to ask Coquitlam, Surrey, Langley, and probably other municipalities, if they could have some of their salt. They all said no!
I guess Vancouver had other ideas as to what to spend it’s money on.
According to SafeCare BC, injury claims for homecare workers were up 600% last month due to treacherous weather conditions.
“We’re seeing an increase in the number of homecare and support workers who are experiencing slips and falls as they’re going out into the community to deliver care into people’s homes and this is because of the icy sidewalks.”
*Comment deleted as per editorial policy*
Today the City of Vancouver is Tweeting that it has plenty of salt; ” we’ve got more than enough salt on hand,”. Come on Gregor, are you holding out dude? Hand it over man. People are suffering out here.
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