Yellowhead Road and Bridge (YRB) Nicola faced a premature start to winter storms this October, as heavy snows and unseasonably cold temperatures battered area highways recently.
“It certainly came early this year,” said Dave Duncan, General Manager of YRB.
The storm… was definitely challenging. We had, at higher elevations, upwards of 40cm of snowfall both on the highway from Merritt to Kamloops as well as the highway from Merritt to Kelowna, and it fell over a ten-hour period, so it was a very aggressive storm. Even down in the valley we had 15cms or so at locations, so that’s a big storm for October.”
There were further complications when the snowfall was followed by a drop in temperature, making it more difficult to clear roads.
“We ended up, shortly after the snowfall, having a fairly deep freeze as well,” said Duncan.
“Temperatures got cold and we did battle some compact snow on some roads.”
However, Duncan notes that those roadways are clearing now that the temperature has warmed to more average levels. And, although winter weather was not expected quite so early in the season, Duncan believes that crews were ready and handled the situation well.
“It came with some challenges, but we had our crew and equipment ready, the crews did a good job and got on it early,” said Duncan.
“We had our sand piles ready, we had our equipment ready, had our salt ready to go, and so given the conditions crews did their best and fortunately there weren’t any serious incidents throughout the event.”
YRB begins 24-hour shifts in mid-October, anticipating poor weather. So, when snow begins to affect driving conditions there is already a complete stockpile of necessary salt, sand and chemical brine which has been put up through the summer months.
The company’s dual-purpose equipment, which operate without snow removal attachments in the warmer months, have also been re-equipped.
“We still have the odd piece that we’re using for projects out there to get finished up, but the vast majority of our equipment is winter transitioned,” said Duncan.
Duncan also wishes to thank drivers for how they handled the first blast of winter, which can often cause many issues on the roads.
“We did have a closure on the Coquihalla for a few hours, there were a couple of spun out trucks which is something that happens during the wintertime, but both commercial vehicles and all the other passenger vehicle drivers out there were slowing down,” said Duncan.
“They were watching our equipment and taking their time to get to their destination, and we were really grateful for that. Especially when those early season storms can catch people off guard, it was great to see that.”
YRB would also like to remind drivers that driving must be approached differently at this time of year, and that there are precautions all drivers can take to ensure the roads remain open and safe.
“Winter driving conditions are different than summer driving conditions,” Duncan warned.
“We issue storm forecasts regularly and we update DriveBC every day. So, drivers that are out there, get your winter tires on, check the road conditions and the forecast before you go, and if you do have to drive in winter conditions take a little extra time to plan your route and to adjust your speed and drive time in consideration of the conditions. If you do that, you’ll get to your destination safely.”
