EDMONTON – Freezing rain made for treacherous driving conditions in and around Edmonton Saturday evening and into Sunday.
The City of Edmonton urged motorists to stay home if at all possible Saturday night due to extremely slippery roads.
Edmonton Transit suspended bus service for over an hour Saturday night, due to the poor driving conditions. Service was back up and running at a reduced speed shortly after 9:00 p.m.
Shortly before 9:00 p.m. the Quesnell Bridge was extremely backed up with traffic. Motorists told Global News several vehicles had hit the ditch.
Due to the freezing rain the City had stopped plowing bus routes, dedicating all available equipment and operators to sanding Edmonton’s arterial roads.
Between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. Saturday, EPS responded to 72 collisions:
- 57 property damage collisions
- Eight injury collisions
- Seven hit-and-run collisions
The City said road conditions in Edmonton had improved Sunday morning, but motorists were still urged to drive carefully.
“We had an entire eight-hour shift dedicated to sanding arterial roads once the freezing rain began,” said Bob Dunford, Director, Roadway Maintenance with the City of Edmonton. “As a result, the seasonal parking ban will continue as we return to plowing. We will have double shifts on through today and tonight, and will reassess the situation tomorrow morning to determine when we can lift the ban.”
Edmontonian Laura Buchkowsky used the icy streets to her advantage Saturday night, turning them into a skating rink.
RCMP reported many Alberta highways were in poor driving condition Saturday night and Sunday morning, including Highway 63 to Fort McMurray, Highway 43 near Onoway and Highways 16 and 16a west of Edmonton.
Sunday morning, Morinville RCMP urged motorists to drive with extreme caution due to the slippery highways. Officers were dealing were several collisions on Highway 2 north of Morinville, around 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
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