Kingston and the surrounding area in eastern Ontario was hit with significant snowfall Thursday night and Friday.
Environment Canada is predicting a total of 15 to 25 centimetres of snow by Saturday morning — and the cleanup of the storm has already begun.
As residents shovelled their driveways, every snowplow in the city was deployed to help clear the main roads, and to help residents have a safer commute to work in the morning.
“Crews were well set up,” says Troy Stubinski, operations manager for public works at the city.
“We had anti-iced yesterday in anticipation. Crews worked with the heavy snowfall — worked mainly on arterials, got into some residentials, and operations are still continuing today.”
The overnight parking ban was in effect as of Friday morning at 1 a.m., with fines of $30 given out to those who were parked on streets between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m.
Even though the ban is in effect, Stubinski says there were still some cars parked on city streets overnight.
“We’ve encountered a lot of vehicles that were still parked on our streets,” he says. “Which, in some cases, doesn’t allow plows to get down streets. In other cases, it leaves time where we have to get back and loop back to try and clean up because we can’t clean to the curb.”
The roads in and around the city were mostly clear of collisions Friday morning.
But when the snow was first coming down Thursday evening, there were a few minor crashes.
“It looks like there were about three to four, I believe, relatively minor collisions,” says Steve Koopman, Traffic Safety Supervisor for Kingston police.
“Predominately weather-based, but it seems like the injuries were either minimal or none. So we’re very fortunate in that regard.”
Koopman advises drivers to take their time during winter storms to avoid collisions on the roadways.
“People just need to readjust,” he says. “Slow down, create extra distance, be aware of your environment, scan for escape routes. And of course, don’t leave the house unless you have to.”
The winter parking ban will remain in effect overnight Friday as well, as the snow is expected to continue to fall Saturday.
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