As Clark County continues to thaw, C-Tran is working to maintain and restore bus routes.
The conditions, specifically in downtown Vancouver, have been treacherous, requiring temporary suspension of service there, said Eric Florip, C-Tran’s manager of communications and marketing.
“The streets were very slick and very icy and just hazardous to run buses on for much of the past couple of days,” Florip said.
As of Thursday afternoon, both Vine routes — on Mill Plain and Fourth Plain boulevards — have returned to regular routes, although passengers will continue to board at the adverse-weather location for each station. Turtle Place station is closed; passengers should board at West Eighth and Main streets. A mix of 40- and 60-foot buses are serving Vine routes during this spate of winter weather instead of the usual articulated buses.
Ice is trickier for buses to navigate on than snow, Florip said.
“With snow, it’s a little bit more possible to navigate and you have a little bit better traction on packed snow, for example, than you do on ice,” Florip said. “(It’s) thankfully relatively rare to see the significant ice accumulation that we’ve had the past couple days.”
As of 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Routes 2, 41 and 190 are suspended and Routes 19, 47 and 92 are on snow routes.
Passengers can expect morning updates as early as 4:30 a.m. as C-Tran field staff are out checking road conditions at 3 a.m.
The last time C-Tran faced this many weather related disruptions was in the “snowpocalypse” of January 2017, when the Portland-Vancouver region received nearly a foot of snow. Temperatures remained below freezing for several days, resulting in a slow thaw.
“That was also the opening week of The Vine on Fourth Plain, which made for a very memorable launch,” Florip said in a statement.
Typically, 40-foot buses fare better in snow and ice than the 60-foot, accordion-style articulated buses typically serve Vine routes. Their shorter length and lack of trailer joint eliminate the risk of jackknifing.
To get the most up to date information, go to c-tran.com or call 360-695-0123.
