Hazardous driving conditions in Regina because of wintry weather

Love it or hate it, for many people Friday started with a morning workout that involved shovelling snow.

Six centimetres of snow fell overnight in Regina, creating icy conditions on the roads and causing many accidents throughout the day.

“On high speed roads I think people sometimes don’t remember to slow down a bit, especially when the weather is a little warmer. Things are slippery and you need to allow more time,” Pat Wilson, City of Regina’s acting executive director for transportation, said.

Six graders, nine plow trucks and one sidewalk plow have been making the rounds in Regina. “Our crews are out working on category one and two streets, especially the high speed roads like Ring Road and Lewvan Drive,” Wilson said. “They’re also plowing trouble spots where we get drifting and blockages, and sanding icy spots, such as intersections.”

Nearly 300 snow plows have been clearing around the clock on Saskatchewan’s highways.

“We have people before the storm, we have people during the storm, and we have people after the storm,” Paul Spasoff, a spokesman for the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure, said. “When there’s no snow to plow, they’re treating ice with sand and salt.”

Snow plows often create a mini-blizzard on the road, Spasoff said. “And so when people do encounter them on the road we want people to slow down, stay back and stay safe. The plow operators will pull over when it’s safe to do so, about every 10 kilometres or so.”

According to Environment Canada, more stormy weather is on the way for the region from Humboldt to Yorkton and along Highway 16.

“That’s where we expect areas to be heaviest hit by this clipper, but in behind the system we do expect winds to pick up, especially in southeastern Saskatchewan, getting to around 40 km/h, gusting to 60, and potentially blowing snow in that area,” Environment Canada meteorologist John Paul Cragg said.

Although little snow is forecasted for southeastern Saskatchewan, because there’s already a lot of snow on the ground, drivers can expect to see blowing snow on the highways and reduced visibility, Cragg said.

Officials are reminding drivers to slow down and check the highway hotline before heading out.