EDMONTON- Around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) said Anthony Henday Drive was being shut down due to white-out conditions and poor visibility. Officers were expecting the road to be shut for several hours until conditions improve, however, at 5:20, they sent a message saying the highway was being re-opened.
“Commuters should be aware, however,” said EPS spokesperson Scott Patison in an email, “that tow trucks will not be responding to calls for service on the Henday until further notice.”
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“Alberta Transportation is the only authority that can close a provincial highway,” Parker Hogan with the transportation department told Global Edmonton in an email. “The Henday is not recommended for travel…neither are any of the highways in the region.”
Ten to 15 centimetres is expected to fall in the Edmonton area by the end of Thursday.
The wind has been making conditions even worse. Gusts were expected to reach 40 kilometres an hour.
Police responded to 133 collisions in Edmonton between 6 a.m. and 4:55 p.m. Thursday. 155 were considered to be fender-benders, nine were hit-and-runs, and another nine were injury collisions, according to EPS.
Motorists are being advised to drive with caution and give themselves extra time to get to their destination.
City crews were deployed Thursday morning, plowing and sanding arterial roads, collector bus routes, river valley hills and bridge decks.
The city says the neighbourhood blading cycle already under way will continue despite Thursday’s snowfall.
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