SURREY (NEWS1130) – The new Port Mann Bridge is open
It was closed for most of the afternoon after reports of large ice chunks falling from the bridge.
Several callers to the newsroom said large chunks of snow and ice smashed the hoods and windshields of their vehicles as they drove across the bridge.
“I’ve been sitting on the Port Mann for 45 minutes. There’s huge hunks of ice and snow falling off the wires and I’m sitting here with a convertible roof. I’m worried one is going to come through the roof,” describes one woman.
“Wow, that was a big chunk! If that had hit my windshield, it would have gone right through. I’m getting pummeled here, on the bridge, by these chunks of snow coming off it,” says one woman, also trapped in traffic on the Port Mann Bridge.
It’s not only the Port Mann Bridge where this is happening. This man drove through a similar situation on the Alex Fraser Bridge. “Halfway past the bridge up there, all this snow is falling down, and big chunks just hit the middle of the windshield and it’s hard to see at the moment.” He says the size of the chunks are significant. “I would say when they’re coming down, they’re probably about a foot long and all of a sudden, smash, in the side of the car and the windshield.”
RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said the ice has damaged several vehicles and even injured one motorist, who needed an ambulance. High winds and a thick blanket of snow covered much of Metro Vancouver after it blew in during the morning commute, causing ferry cancellations, school closures and traffic headaches.
The second storm in as many days also knocked out power for about 18,000 customers in Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island.
ICBC has fielded 60 claims today related to the Port Mann bridge. Adam Grossman says some of those claims are the result of regular accidents on the bridge.
“Some of those will be due likely to the snow and ice that was falling from the bridge, but there could be some other contributing factors as well.”
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Don’t pay your tolls till bridge is safe,
Class Action Lawsuit started……email comments to….. PortMannBridgeUnsafe@mail.com
Just think happy, warm thoughts are you go over the bridge on your bicycle. According to the politicians and the green mafia, we shouldn’t be using our cars anyway so it’s actually our fault if something like this happens.
if you rode your bike over the bridge you wouldn’t be waiting an hour and half – you’d be home
And dead from the falling ice chunks.
Ah the young Port Mann bridge. It can’t hold it’s snow and spews chunks. Next thing you know, it’s going to start swaying and topple over.
Glad I stayed home and didn’t go to the party.
Hey guys , we not enough paying for “GREEN ” BC , this why probably it happened )))
But if seriously , we had free bridge now it is TOLL , why ? I would like to use slow old one without any chunks of snow and ice .
we now have a bridge that cannot hack snow. just great ! a fricken useless bridge. drive it and it can kill you ! we want our money back !!!
This would not be so bad if you did not have to pay a toll for the privilege of having your car smashed up. Thank you Kevin “Adolph” Falcon.
The Old Port Mann Bridge may have had lower capacity, but at least it never SHUT DOWN THE FREEWAY!
Sure is a good thing we have a new high capacity bridge to make commuting so much faster. Oh wait, it is shut down due to a little snow, creating a commuting hell never before seen. Thank you for forcing us to pay tolls for a “better commute”.