Tuesday, January 31, 2006

The Hope-Princeton

Coming back to Vancouver after this weekend, the Coq was closed for over a day and so I had to eventually give in and take the 'other' road yesterday afternoon. As some background, I have always contested that the Coquihalla is a much superior route in all areas: travel time, safety, enjoyability, and even cost since you spend the equivalent of the $10 in extra gas if you use the Hope-Princeton. Now, a lot of people are scared of the Coquihalla in the winter, and for good reason. I mean, both routes are mountain roads but the Coq can definetly be the worst of the two. However, after having driven the Coq weekend after weekend in the winter for the past 3 months, and now having done the same on the HP, my position has absolutely been solidified, past the point of opinion and squarely into the world of fact.

The HP yesterday was painfully slow, windy, and poorly maintained. Even in being a little generous to the HP with my calculations, it added no less than 45 minutes to the trip and used up more than enough extra gas to eat up the $10 in savings. I also witnessed two near accidents which would have been 'head-on' accidents compared to the 'impact with a snowbank' type accident that I have seen on the Coq.

Anyway you slice it, the HP is a slower, more dangerous route between the Okanagan and the Lower Mainland, and why anyone would use it unless the Coq is actually closed, is completely beyond me.

1 comment:

Poetsch Family said...

I know John totally agrees with that. Glad to know you made it there safe and sound.
Have a good week.