This past week in Edmonton has been extremely cold and it’s lead to extremely icy roads.
The city said when it’s below -30 C, sand doesn’t stick well to the snow, and it creates bad traction. Crews have been trying to address this by using a gravel chip mix and snow plows are using ice blades. There have still been hundreds of collisions because of slippery conditions.
Lee Harris, regional manager of the collision reporting centres, said there has almost been double the amount.
“It almost seemed like the perfect storm of snow then cold,” he said.
“We have seen close to 150, 160 (collisions) per site per day and for some reason they don’t all seem to space out. We adapted as best we can, and added 22 staff,” Harris said.
Harris has noticed a trend: almost all the collisions are rear enders, and many of the vehicles involved have all season tires.
“A vast majority of them are rear-enders, so somebody stops and you can’t stop behind them… I believe last week we had seven cars involved in one rear ender.”
AMA is experiencing wait times as long as 69 hours for tow truck drivers. As people travel this weekend, they are asking motorists to stay vigilant.
“Be prepared before you head out,” AMA driver education manager Ryan Lemont said.
“Pack an emergency kit. That can be filled with things like blankets, booster cables. Maybe even bring some food along.”
Lemont said to also make sure fuel is topped up and not to let it get below half a tank, and check the tires before hitting the road.
“Going into this weekend, there’s going to be reduced service hours on everything, so planning ahead and being prepared for the long hall this weekend.
“And if it doesn’t seem feasible to get out on the highway, turn back stay home where’s safe and nice and warm.”