[quote=“Uncle Stumbly”]Of course this morning, being a beautiful morning with the sunrise gleaming off the snow, I decided to walk to work down the nicely well-trodden path…until the much-maligned (at least on this thread) snowplow came by and filled the sidewalk full with icy dirty lumps.
So, all you people who rely on their cars to get anywhere now have two nice lanes in which to swerve and slide around. The pedestrians? Well, I guess we can suck it, Trebek!![/quote]
Just wait till it gets icy, and then starts raining, I almost fell on my head one year walking to work along second avenue west. Best advice, walk on the road.
[quote=“Uncle Stumbly”]Of course this morning, being a beautiful morning with the sunrise gleaming off the snow, I decided to walk to work down the nicely well-trodden path…until the much-maligned (at least on this thread) snowplow came by and filled the sidewalk full with icy dirty lumps.
So, all you people who rely on their cars to get anywhere now have two nice lanes in which to swerve and slide around. The pedestrians? Well, I guess we can suck it, Trebek!![/quote]
Just wait till it gets icy, and then starts raining, I almost fell on my head one year walking to work along second avenue west. Best advice, walk on the road.[/quote]
That’s absolutely horrible advice.
With poor road conditions (sure they’ve been plowed, but they are far from bare), the sheer number of drivers in this town that have no clue how to drive in the snow/winter and the number of completely unobservant pedestrians in this town, why would you advocate put yourself at risk by walking on the road. It’s a wonder that people are not seriously injured or killed with actions like that.
That’s pretty much what I thought, too, which is why I mentioned the “two lanes in which to swerve and slide”. Got tailgated by some dude in a yellow Hummer all the way back from Oliver lake while the two vehicles in front of me stayed under 70 km per…apparently, if you have a big SUV you can stop on ice better than everybody else. I’m hanging way back but maintaining the same speed and dude just can’t hardly wait until we crossed Hayes Creek and he could rip on past. Got to the lights at 3rd (and it’s red, of course) and I slowly pull up beside him as a camperized van slides sideways past me with the driver hammering on the brakes as he fights for control. The light turns green and Hummer Dude barrels away, not knowing how close he was to getting creamed from behind.
Blissfully unaware. That’s the drivers and as often as not the pedestrians in this town. I’ll stay on the sidewalk.
I noticed today that pedestrians still continue on with their less than wise ways of the road, just jumping out in front of cars at crosswalks (or just in front of cars anywhere they fell like it for that matter) clearly not aware of the factors of icy roads and braking systems sometimes not working in concert. A near miss on a sunny, clear and dry day is going to turn into a new years eve tragedy if some of the dumbest of the dumb don’t figure it might be best to wait till the traffic actually stops.!
Well, to be perfectly truthful, there’s going to have to be some added awareness on both sides…people can’t get their cars as close to the curb when parking so visibility is reduced at crosswalks, drivers forget that they can’t goose it to get across an intersection or stomp on the brakes to make the quick stop. Pedestrians can’t find a quick way onto a crosswalk with huge piles of slush and ice in the way and are reduced to high-stepping off the sidewalk, picking their footing carefully to avoid falling into traffic but yet find themselves in the traffic lanes without even being at the crosswalk.
I think I did all of those things already today, both as a driver and pedestrian. And the sun off the ice, while absolutely spectacular, doesn’t always help drivers to spot the jaywalker, either.
My question is where the fuck are the sand trucks and why the hell are they not out on the highway. Just drove back from terrace and man what a nightmare, watched some girl spin around and slide into the ditch backwards. Pretty much driving on a sheet of ice the whole way didnt see one piece of bare pavement.
I did see a bunch of CN guys leaning on a pickup truck by the railroad crossing. I can only assume they are trying to ‘engineer’ a solution to the massive chunk of ice between the tracks.
Wow, such a lot of vitriol! It seems to me that a couple of days of weather inconvenience in a winter is a whole lot better than most people in this country can expect.
With attitudes like that, maybe some of the earlier posters might be happier if they moved to New York. I think they call it ‘moxie’ there, whereas here, people tend to think you’re just an a** hole.
[quote=“cranky1”]Wow, such a lot of vitriol! It seems to me that a couple of days of weather inconvenience in a winter is a whole lot better than most people in this country can expect.
With attitudes like that, maybe some of the earlier posters might be happier if they moved to New York. I think they call it ‘moxie’ there, whereas here, people tend to think you’re just an a** hole.[/quote]
I’m sorry but the condition of the roads is down right pathetic. It’s a sheet of ice the entire way from rupert to terrace basically and there is almost no sign of sand on the roads anywhere. This never happened before road maintenance was privatized and quite frankly its disgusting that these companies put their bottom line above the safety of their communities to this extent.
Get to work at least put some sand down before someone dies.
[quote=“cranky1”]Wow, such a lot of vitriol! It seems to me that a couple of days of weather inconvenience in a winter is a whole lot better than most people in this country can expect.
With attitudes like that, maybe some of the earlier posters might be happier if they moved to New York. I think they call it ‘moxie’ there, whereas here, people tend to think you’re just an a** hole.[/quote]
Oh just SHUT up!
Winter weather would be much better to deal with if we had competent crews out there clearing snow and laying salt and sand. Who ever is in charge of the highway is a complete joke!
What is wrong with wanting basic, quality road maintenance…ill feed you that same bullshit when you find yourself in the ditch, or a member of your family killed or hurt in an accident because of roads not being maintained propery! I bet you■ll be shutting up then!
Yes there should be more responsibility for the highway maintenance however, what is so important that you need to be on the highway when the weather is this terrible? There are other options of getting to Terrace if an absolute must.
Complain to the Ministry of Highways. These companies get bonuses based on the quality of their work, but I am willing to bet that if there are several complaints about the safety of the highways they may not get their bonuses.
In my experience, the highway between here and Terrace, starting about 50 km out, turns to shit. O’briens does a decent job (imo), but as soon as the contractor changes out the highway, there is a noticeable difference. On one trip to Terrace, the highway went from bare to 6 inches of snow, at about 50 km out, where the contractors change.
Winter weather would be much better to deal with if we had competent crews out there clearing snow and laying salt and sand. Who ever is in charge of the highway is a complete joke!
What is wrong with wanting basic, quality road maintenance…ill feed you that same bullshit when you find yourself in the ditch, or a member of your family killed or hurt in an accident because of roads not being maintained propery! I bet you■ll be shutting up then![/quote]
I have been on that road in some extremely aweful conditions, both for work and for non-work related reasons. I have also refused to travel on it for work. I have been in the ditch, too (my fault, as I was driving too fast for the conditions, obviously.)
The bottom line is that I take responsibility for my actions. It is NOT up to the road crews, the Department of Transportation, or my Mommy to ensure my safety. It is up to me.
I have driven past a plow going the opposite direction and within 10 minutes, there was no evidence that it had been by. The reality is that sometimes, the snow, rain, wind, sleet, etc. conspire to create a mess that only warmer weather can clean up.
In the mean time, I choose to use my head, and save my breath for better things than bitching.
[quote=“jesus”]I’m sorry but the condition of the roads is down right pathetic. It’s a sheet of ice the entire way from rupert to terrace basically and there is almost no sign of sand on the roads anywhere. This never happened before road maintenance was privatized and quite frankly its disgusting that these companies put their bottom line above the safety of their communities to this extent.
Get to work at least put some sand down before someone dies.[/quote]
Sand, IMO, don’t really do much unless you put a quarter inch layer the entire way and hope the snow doesn’t fall, but then people are going to complain about loose gravel and stone chips. You’ll be better off driving on winter tires with studs, or just don’t drive.
Ajaye46 , I was wondering if you were ever coming out to play again . So what do you have for us to share ? I heard you think that we have the best work force , some of the team told me how they appreciate your words of encouragement .
[quote=“jesus”]I’m sorry but the condition of the roads is down right pathetic. It’s a sheet of ice the entire way from rupert to terrace basically and there is almost no sign of sand on the roads anywhere. This never happened before road maintenance was privatized and quite frankly its disgusting that these companies put their bottom line above the safety of their communities to this extent.
Get to work at least put some sand down before someone dies.[/quote]
Sand, IMO, don’t really do much unless you put a quarter inch layer the entire way and hope the snow doesn’t fall, but then people are going to complain about loose gravel and stone chips. You’ll be better off driving on winter tires with studs, or just don’t drive.[/quote]
Sand does a lot when its sheer ice the entire length of the highway. The roads were ridiculous yesterday and dont look much better today and there is absolutely no reason for it. I’ve seen bigger dumps of snow cleaned up better and faster its been 3 days now and you still cant see pavement.
Yeah sand don’t do much when people insist on going 80 + km/h it just blows off the road, and there isn’t much you can do to compact snow unless you have a grador with ice blades or scarification blades to make grooves in the ice, whick make it easier to steer .
If you go inland to say PG the roads are like this from nivember till march and the dirt roads are so much smoother when they tunr them to ice roads , drive accordingly to the condidtions and to top it off winter driving destroys vehicles so do as little driving as possible and you be fine lol.
Ummm… no. I used to live in the Peace Region and I have to drive on iced highways just to get to work, and trust me they’re very much ineffective and they don’t last (I blame trucks and jackasses on the roads). Even on the Sikanni Chief stretch of the Alaska Highway, it’s single traffic alternating with pilot for 24/7 despite sanding the crap on the steep curvy grades.