City crews with sanders were out on the streets Thursday morning, after a winter storm hit the city – making for a slippery drive for commuters.
Early Thursday morning, Edmontonians woke up to freezing rain which covered streets, sidewalks and cars with a layer of ice.
Police said between 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. a total of 116 traffic collisions were reported, ten of those involved injuries - police said those numbers could rise as some collisions could be reported in the coming days.
City of Edmonton officials and police said generally, motorists were driving to the road conditions.
“Traffic did seem to be moving a little slow this morning, and I think that was a caution that people were showing, which is always a healthy thing in winter driving conditions,” City Roadway Maintenance Director Bob Dunford said. “I think the snowfall that we had on Monday got people thinking about winter driving conditions.”
A total of 45 sanders are already working on city streets, focusing on main roads, bridges and hills – Dunford said a combination of sand, de-icer and the temperature of the pavement also made conditions easier to deal with.
On Thursday afternoon, the full complement of sander and blading trucks were deployed onto city streets – they will focus on plowing and sanding on hills, bridges, collector bus routes and main roads throughout the city around the clock.
The city has also hired graders who will clear snow on arterial roads starting at midnight, ahead of the morning commute.
Officials don’t anticipate declaring a seasonal parking ban, however road conditions will be monitored and officials will determine if a parking ban is appropriate on Friday.
Meanwhile, the storm is showing no signs of stopping – as the freezing rain turned to snow, and 10 centimetres of it are expected to fall.
With files from Amanda Anderson
