Area highways were passable but still snow covered for the commute on Wednesday morning as both provincial highway and City crews struggle to keep up with Mother Nature. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

essential travel only

‘Stay home and stay off the roads:’ snow making travel treacherous across Nanaimo & mid-Island

Jan 17, 2024 | 10:29 AM

NANAIMO — It’s a winter wonderland across much of the mid-Island as Mother Nature delivered the first true snowfall of the season.

Between 10 and 30 centimetres fell for much of the region, with more at higher elevations and less closer to the water. Snowfall began in earnest through the region around 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 16 and continued to increase through Wednesday, Jan. 17.

A substantial suspension of service for Regional District Transit, coupled with closed schools, University campuses and other facilities came early, while work continues through the day to keep area roads passable.

“Crews have been out since [around midnight] trying to keep up with the snowfall but it’s been very heavy,” David Thompson, city manager of roads, told NanaimoNewsNOW. “Temperatures are starting to creep up and road conditions are very slippery so we definitely encourage travellers to stay home and stay off the roads wherever possible.”

Around 20 pieces of equipment, including small and large snow removal trucks and backhoes, are clearing snow focused on high-traffic areas.

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Nanaimo, like most municipalities, categorizes their roads into three different priority groups.

Priority one routes include major routes and thoroughfares through the city, main connectors to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and main transit corridors.

Second-priority roads include main residential streets while the lowest-priority roads include cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads.

Should snow continue to fall, those lower-priority roads may not see a plow for days.

“[We’re] trying to punch into the priority two’s wherever we possibly can,” Thompson added. “It looks like the snowfall has started to let up, so we’re very hopeful to make some good progress [Wednesday] morning.”

The City’s snow removal is also a team effort, with public works handling the clearing of roads while the parks and recreation department tackles City facilities and active transportation routes.

Nanaimo’s Parks and Recreation department handles clearing of active transportation routes, using specialized equipment not suitable for road snow removal. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Thompson added no resources are diverted away from road clearing in order to handle bike lanes and active transportation corridors.

A stretch of sub-zero conditions made removal of the snow a little easier for crews overnight, with the brine added to area roads a week ago in advance of a record cold snap still proving effective, according to Thompson.

Regardless, main roads continue to be extremely treacherous while many side roads are borderline unpassable without a suitable vehicle.

“Route planning is going to be key at this point in the event,” Thompson said. “While we are out there servicing the priority one routes as best as we can, conditions are slippery. If you can avoid hills, please do.”

Recycling collection for Nanaimo is cancelled for Wednesday, with affected residents allowed to put out extra on their next pick-up day.

Similar cancellations have occurred in other municipalities.

Snow clearing for area highways is managed by Mainroad Contracting and follows a similar strategy as municipal clearing.

Mainroad manager Chris Cowley said they’ve got a full roster of crews and every piece of equipment out.

“Our strategy is we just cycle what’s called the A and B-class roads, the higher class roads so that’d be Hwy. 19, 19A…those kind of arteries and just keep the snow up and off those.”

He added if more snow comes, they’ll have to continue focusing on main routes before they can turn their attention to secondary or side roads.

“We may not get a full cleanup done today.”

Between 10 and 30 centimetres fell for most residents in the region overnight, with sounds of shovels scraping the snow away echoing early Wednesday morning. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Snow is believed to be at least partially responsible for three motor vehicle incidents in Nanaimo Wednesday morning.

RCMP Res. Cst. Gary O’Brien said drivers need to adjust to the conditions.

“A vehicle went into the ditch along the Duke Point Hwy. The driver was injured and was taken to hospital for assessment. Other ones were a vehicle versus a fire hydrant and off roadway right behind the Brooks Landing Mall. Most of these are speed [related] and not driving according to conditions.”

O’Brien added compact snow will change conditions once more and leaving adequate distance between you and the car in front can go a long way to avoiding a crash.

Conditions are expected to remain challenging through to the weekend.

Armel Castellan, meteorologist with Environment Canada, said another weather event bringing more snow is expected to begin Thursday afternoon before warming.

“There’s a very real risk for freezing rain for this event, there’s a lot of cold air stuck int he valleys in the spine of the Island…those areas could still be subject to several hours of freezing rain. We’re very concerned about that potential over the coming day and a half here.”

— with files from Bill Nation & Jon De Roo, 97.3 The Eagle

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