Thursday’s winter blast caused over 100 vehicle crashes on Calgary roads, police said.
About 112 crashes and 10 injuries were recorded from 4 p.m. Thursday to 8 a.m. Friday, police said.
Snow accumulation and icy conditions on area roads made driving a challenge Thursday.
Vehicles could be seen in ditches while others simply got stuck in the snow.
Randy Loyk of the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) said the storm’s aftermath has slowed their roadside assistance services.
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“Service calls were running fairly good, only about two hours,” Loyk said. “Winching and tows were running a little longer, about 16 hours.”
The city of Calgary recorded 6.8 centimetres, while some areas like Lethbridge saw about 9 centimetres.
311 calls
The City of Calgary said it has received more than 7,000 calls over the past two weeks to its 311 line due to snowfall, which was 10 times the volume compared to last year.
From March 1 to March 15, a total of 4,352 calls were made to the city, requesting service for snow and ice plowing.
It’s a much different story than 2017, when a mild winter and early spring resulted in only 594 calls for roads, snow and ice control.
According to the city, the early start to spring gave crews a head start on spring sweeping.
Here’s a breakdown of the calls, which can include duplicate requests:
- March 1 – March 15, 2018: 7,041
- Snow and ice plowing requests: 4,352
- Snow and ice causing flooding: 1,443
- Sand/salt request: 310
- Windrows: 272
- Snow plowed onto sidewalk: 199
- Inquiry about roads operations: 129
- Refill sandboxes (Roads dept./fire hall): 88
- Snow routes: 83
- Other not listed: 74
- Major snow event inaccessible road: 40
- CPS/CFD/ emergency sanding/plowing request: 29
- Snow and ice (marked bike route on street): 16
- Snow fence (request for new): 4
- Snow & ice hanging off plus 15 walkway: 2
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