• Canadian drivers trapped on mountain highway for 20 hours
    8 replies, posted
[img]http://wpmedia.theprovince.com/2016/12/coqscreen-shot-2016-12-29-at-6-20-44-pm-copy.jpg?quality=60&strip=all&w=840&h=630&crop=1[/img] [img]http://www.horsetrackhooligans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/coquihalla_highway.jpg[/img] [quote]Dozens of travellers bundled up in vehicles overnight Thursday after freezing rain closed a busy B.C. highway for 20 hours. It made for an apocalyptic scene ahead of the B.C. Family Day long weekend, with cars and semi-trailer trucks parked all along the Coquihalla Highway, which had closed due to icy road conditions and several collisions. Highway 5 (Coquihalla) reopened around 2 p.m. Friday, but Drive B.C. was urging extreme caution on the still-hazardous road.[/quote] [quote]Amy Hockley Brunelle was travelling with her husband and two children to spend the B.C. Family Day long weekend at Big White ski resort. They left New Westminster around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday and became stuck on the Coquihalla around 7:30 p.m., she told Postmedia via text message. The family had packed plenty of blankets to keep warm and iPads to keep the kids entertained during the impromptu campout, she said. Their five-year-old slept well but their 22-month-old tossed and turned, so both parents slept only two hours. Brunelle said emergency crews brought the family water but she wishes the highway had been closed to prevent the whole ordeal.[/quote] [quote]Adam Henderson, who works in the Vancouver craft beer industry, was travelling home from Calgary when he hit the backup in Kingsvale. Following the freezing rain Thursday night, Henderson said he’d never seen such icy road conditions. “Instantly there were accidents because of that,” said Henderson, adding that he’d also seen semi-trailer trucks sliding all over and eight vehicles which left the road altogether. Even in his 4×4 pickup truck, with snow tires and plenty of gas, Henderson was concerned how the drive would be once traffic began to move again. [/quote] [quote]The Coquihalla closure left no main connection between the Lower Mainland and the B.C. Interior for most of a day. Highway 1 from Yale to Boston Bar was closed due to a high avalanche hazard, while Highway 3 east of Hope was also closed overnight.[/quote] [quote]The problems follow a severe storm that swept across the south half of the province on Thursday, prompting an Avalanche Canada advisory urging backcountry users to avoid heading out this weekend, or to ensure they have advanced avalanche training and equipment.[/quote] [url=http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouver-cut-off-from-b-c-interior-as-every-major-highway-closed-by-winter-storm]**SOURCE**[/url] Now the first thing I want to point out was that everyone in the province has been getting ready for this storm since it was announced it was gonna hit on Monday. EVERYONE knew it was going to hit and fuck up EVERYTHING and they all had fair warning as the weather all week has been pretty bad. Yet somehow it hits and surprise, weather conditions on a high mountain road change fast and before people could start hitting the U-turns the highway clogged up. Other than that, if you wanted to get from the interior to the coast you had only two options: -A lengthy detour through Washington state -Book a flight also: [quote="Truck driver being interviewed by Global BC"]I normally drive from Vancouver to Toronto and this is bad. The highways are bad. The highways in Ontario are far better than this.[/quote] ...lmao of course a mountain highway is worse in the winter than the 401.
The coquihalla is brutal in the winter, and when it rains.. fuck the Coke unless it's clear.
[QUOTE=The golden;51806807]This is why you watch the weather and observe DriveBC reports before you depart. Better to stay another night in a warm hotel room than caught out in the middle of the goddamn mountains. I used to drive this route with my father every year to visit family for Christmas. It's NOT a nice experience if you're doing it mid-storm. There is nothing worth driving in extremely dangerous winter conditions.[/QUOTE] Some people cannot get hotels fwiw.
They also have jobs to get to.
[QUOTE=Lord of Boxes;51811855]They also have jobs to get to.[/QUOTE] I feel so fucking sorry for your ass if your commute means taking the coq daily.
Shit like this is why I keep blankets, water bottles and emergency ration bars in my car. Also an entrenching tool.
Watch Highway Thru Hell, its a bit over-sensationalized american TV but it does show some of the wrecks that happen up there, it's pretty interesting.
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