Freezing rain on Tuesday night created icy road conditions in Edmonton, prompting officials to ask drivers to use extreme caution.
READ MORE: Edmonton, other parts of Alberta should brace for freezing rain
On Tuesday, Environment Canada issued freezing rain warnings and a special weather statement for parts of central and northern Alberta — including Edmonton — as it warned people to prepare for freezing rain.
After the freezing rain hit Edmonton and surrounding areas, slick conditions were believed to have been factors in several collisions and vehicles driving into ditches in and around the city.
Edmonton police said there were a total of 55 collisions reported in the city between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 8 a.m. Wednesday. There were injuries in 11 of those crashes and there were eight hit-and-run collisions, police said.
READ MORE: QE2 reopened after overnight shutdown because of deadly multi-vehicle crash
Cliff’s Towing operator Schaun MacCrimmon said he witnessed a semi crash and end up on its side on the QEII and 41 Avenue as he was pulling another vehicle out of a ditch.
“It was a B-train that was sideways in the ditch so we had to pull him out and as we were pulling him out, another vehicle went over in front of us 150 metres down the road,” MacCrimmon said.
“I was just setting up down there and he came over and ‘bam,’ away we go with another one.”
MacCrimmon asked drivers to slow down, drive with caution and be aware of emergency responders during icy conditions.
“When you see the amber lights on the side of the road, we’re still considered emergency vehicles and just to slow down and move over for us as well,” MacCrimmon said.
“We have a personnel worker on the road in front of me, a lot of times you can’t see because my traffic control vehicle is behind, but we have signage out and everybody needs to slow down because the roads are unbelievably slippery.”
READ MORE: Freezing rain warning ends, weather advisory in place for parts of Saskatchewan
The city of Edmonton said they had 80 pieces of equipment on the roads overnight and were using all methods for de-icing.
The city also asked Edmontonians to use extreme caution and avoid driving if possible.
All weather alerts and warnings were dropped by Environment Canada by Wednesday morning.
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