City of Delta crews dealing with first blast of winter weather

City of Delta crews have been working around the clock sanding, brining and plowing city streets as the first wintery blast has hit for the season.

Director of engineering Steven Lan said crews were well prepared.

“Now that we have the two yards – the salt shed in North Delta as well as the Ladner yard, so we were able to deploy our crews very efficiently,” said Lan. “We were able to respond up in North Delta on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday when the weather changed in the evening and it started snowing again, we re-deployed our trucks out and since then we have been on the go.

“Currently all the trucks are out salting and brining our priority routes. The biggest concern really now is how cold it is with the ice conditions, so again we are actively working on all the first priority routes.”
With the cold temperatures remaining in place for the next few days along with the possibility of more snow, Lan said they will be actively monitoring weather forecasts to assess their next plans of action.

“It will be all hands-on for the next couple of days. We will adjust our resources as required to ensure the roads are kept in good shape,” he said.

Delta police have also been busy.

On Friday, the traffic unit dealt with a semi-truck that sild off the road on Highway 17 just west of 80^th St.

DPD spokesperson Cris Leykauf said officers were dispatched just before 6:30 a.m.

“The semi was in the north ditch facing eastbound,” said Leykauf. “The fifth wheel was blocking all westbound lanes. The truck had significant damage. It was a single-vehicle crash and the driver reported only minor injuries.”

DPD also assisted with Deas Island RCMP with a short closure of the Alex Fraser Bridge due to ice falling off the cables.

On Sunday night, officers had a busy evening assisting with multiple calls for vehicles spun out as well as minor motor vehicle incidents due to snow and slippery roads.

Leykauf said there was a three-car MVI with minor injuries around 8:30 p.m. on 122th St. in North Delta as well as an abandoned vehicle on Highway 99.