After several days of above-zero temperatures, melting snow turned to ice in the Edmonton region, as overnight rain on Friday turned already-slick roads and sidewalks into skating rinks.
While major roadways were mainly clear, thanks in part to a new anti-icing calcium chloride solution being sprayed on them, side roads and sidewalks are a different story.
Between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., 184 collisions were reported to Edmonton police: four injury collisions, 31 hit-and-run, and 149 collisions involving property damage.
The tow truck on the left side of the above photo slid into the ditch when it wasn’t even moving, the driver said.
“It just slid in,” said Karan Ralph with Action Towing. He was called to 41 Avenue SW near 66 Street to pull a car out of the ditch, when gravity and ice worked against him.
“I pulled her out of the ditch and after that I got stuck myself. I was sitting on the road and I went in the ditch, you know? There was another car right here and we were trying to protect each other – and I protected him but I was not protecting myself, and so into the ditch.”
Edmonton police also blocked off a section of 17 Street, between Anthony Henday Drive and Ellerslie Road, because vehicles were sliding off the road. Even a firetruck was having difficulty on the southeast Edmonton road.
Bus cancellations and changes
School busses were affected in and around Edmonton because of the conditions. Edmonton Catholic Schools said kindergarten drop off may be delayed and students may be dropped off at a different location, depending on road conditions.
Meanwhile, morning bussing was cancelled east of Edmonton for some students.
Elk Island Public Schools sent out an alert to parents, saying “due to extremely icy road conditions, all bus routes in Strathcona County including urban Sherwood Park and urban Fort Saskatchewan have been cancelled for this morning only. Weather permitting, buses will be running this afternoon. All schools will remain open.”
In Sherwood Park, at least one school bus was spotted partially slid into the ditch. The bus was empty and on the way to pick up kids when the driver realized the roads were extremely icy and stopped, she told Global News.
The driver said while the bus was stopped and in neutral, she lifted her foot off the brake slightly, and suddenly the bus started sliding into the ditch.
“I had absolutely no control,” she said.
West of Edmonton, Parkland School Division No. 70 had some bus cancellations and delays due to the icy roads.
Stony Plain/ Spruce Grove/Enoch RCMP responded to eight vehicle collisions into ditches in the early morning hours. Police warned of extremely icy conditions on Winterburn Road between secondary Highway 627 and secondary Highway 628.
Streets as literal skating rinks
It was so slick on some residential streets that former Edmonton Oilers captain Andrew Ference laced up for a skate up his street.
READ MORE: Edmonton teens turn slippery streets into skating rink, while mom demands city sands
Other residents took to Twitter share their struggles and observations.