The Sunshine Coast was walloped by Old Man Winter last weekend, and as Coast Reporter headed to press, Environment Canada was calling for another major snowfall before warm air forecast for Thursday and Friday moves in.
The latest winter storm warning came as people were still cleaning up from the earlier snowfall, which Environment Canada says left 16 cm on the ground at the Sechelt Airport and 30 cm at the Port Mellon weather station.
Heavy snow that started falling across most areas of the Sunshine Coast on Feb. 3 made Highway 101 and side streets treacherous, according to Sunshine Coast RCMP. Some sections of the highway and other roads had to be closed because of slippery conditions and accidents. Tow trucks also had trouble keeping up with the calls for accidents, vehicles off the road and stuck drivers.
Most of the accidents were minor, although RCMP said they responded to two rollovers, a vehicle that hit a tree, and one that hit a power pole. There were no serious injuries.
School District No. 46 cancelled buses last Friday morning, and closed schools early.
RainCity Housing kept the cold weather homeless shelter at St. Hilda’s Church in Sechelt open during the day Feb. 4 and 5 because of the bad weather. RainCity said on weekdays the Arrowhead Centre is open and many shelter clients go there during the day.
The snowfall also disrupted Sunshine Coast Transit service, which didn’t get back to running on all routes until Tuesday morning. Transit is reminding riders that in snowy conditions, Route 90 service between Sunnycrest Mall in Gibsons and Trail Bay Mall in Sechelt will get priority. Langdale service will be available if Gibsons Way and Marine Drive or the bypass are safe for bus travel, and during extreme weather, some local routes may not receive service.
BC Hydro crews were also busy. More than 5,000 customers were without power at various points Friday night, and the outages continued through the weekend.
The snow also forced the cancellation of a planned vigil for the victims of the Quebec City mosque shooting on Friday. The vigil is now scheduled for Feb. 10 at noon at Mission Point Park.
So far this winter, Gibsons has been hardest hit by snowfall, and the cleanups have been costly.
Town CAO Emanuel Machado said so far Gibsons has spent $40,000 on dealing with snow removal and salting and sanding – more than double the $18,500 budgeted.
Machado also said the Town is still facing a challenge when it comes to getting property owners to follow the bylaw requiring them to clear sidewalks.
“We’re still not getting very good response from property owners and we continue to hear complaints from the public on the state of the sidewalks,” Machado said. “Bylaw has been out trying to work with business owners and property owners to do their part.”
At a committee meeting Feb. 7, Mayor Wayne Rowe singled out one organization – School District No. 46.
“Two of the bigger offenders right now are Elphinstone [Secondary] School and Gibsons Elementary. They’ve got a whole works department, there’s no excuse for those sidewalks to be [uncleared].”
Rowe went on to call for stepped-up enforcement of the bylaw.
“The next step’s a fine … There’s a lot of sidewalks right now that shouldn’t be in the condition they are, so I’m really asking quite frankly that we get aggressive with the bylaw enforcement officer and get out there and get something happening on this,” he said.
District of Sechelt communications manager Connie Jordison told Coast Reporter that their public works crew worked around the clock from the morning of Friday, Feb. 3 to Monday evening looking after 113 km of roadway. She said so far this season Sechelt has gone through approximately 125 tonnes of salt and 30 tonnes of sand.
Sechelt’s snow removal bylaw applies only to businesses, and requires them to keep the sidewalks in front of their buildings clear.
“Bylaw enforcement staff have been attending to the various businesses in Sechelt and informing them of the bylaw over the past few days. They have all been very cooperative,” Jordison said.
District crews look after sidewalks that abut municipally owned buildings or parks, the ambulance station, crosswalks and sidewalk letdowns associated with crosswalks, and wharfs. According to Jordison, the district gives priority to sidewalks in high-density areas.
RCMP have been telling people to be prepared for winter driving conditions.
“If you do go out, ensure that your vehicle’s tires are appropriate for the conditions, and ensure you have some emergency equipment – including a warm blanket – in your vehicle, in case you get stuck and have to wait for help,” said Const. Harrison Mohr at the height of the snowfall last Friday.
RCMP are also reminding people to call 911 only if they are involved in a collision where there are serious injuries or their vehicle is stuck in a dangerous position. All other collision reports should be directed to the non-emergency line: 604-885-2266.
