North Van–Burnaby in the winter
North Van–Burnaby in the winter
Is anyone familiar with what the iron workers memorial bridge foot/bike path is like in the winter? My new work commute goes over the bridge and I'm wondering if it is viable in the snow or if I should budget for having a car by then. Also the state of the trans canada trail from where it meets the bridge to willingdon would affect my planning. I have heard snow on the roads is poorly managed in Burnaby and I don't like biking on them to bevin with so I'm a bit worried. The north van side I have already seen and its a mixed bag of both excellent and awful. Maybe its a city and district difference but I've seen atv plows clearing bike lanes and other parts where the bike lane has snow above my head height. I have a second bike configured for snow and with mid drive electric motor now.
My partner, who makes that trip a lot during winter, responds:
The bike lane on the bridge deck is eventually cleared, but usually not the first day or two after a snowfall. I check the hwy 1 ironworkers webcams, you can usually get an idea of whether it has been cleared by looking at them. On the north shore, the district does not clear bike paths quickly but the city is very good. He can look up the boundaries and plan a route that keeps him mostly in the city.
My opinion: The bridge gets too dicey for my comfort a few days every winter, especially because of the long northbound downhill decent followed by a poor sight line curve. It frosts over much faster than any bike lane on the ground. I recommend putting the bike on a bus to get over the bridge on days when it has snowed recently or if it was wet the day before and temperatures have dropped below 0.
thanks that's really helpful. I'm not super worried about the ice because I have a stupidly steep hill to my house that actually requires the 52t gear with the mid motor to get up and the studs make an unwalkable hill bikable up and down. Some specific snow conditions are not happening though. I never thought to use the street cams either so I'll be doing that for sure.
Schwalbe sells tungsten carbide studded tires. I commuted on them to work for two Ontario winters. As for traction anecdotes: I passed a few stuck cars on the way to work--they had trouble with inclines, and one coworker with pickup called in that he couldn't make it out of his driveway, my manager said "If the guy on the bicycle can ride in, I'm sure your truck can make it" LOL
