Old Man Winter paid southern Alberta an unwanted visit, Jan. 8-9.
Snow wreaked havoc in Airdrie and surrounding areas, Strathmore declared a state of emergency and the Trans-Canada Highway was temporarily closed east of Calgary.
The estimated 10 to 15 centimetres of accumulation and blowing snow caused for whiteout conditions on area highways.
Around the city, crews have been working non-stop since the storm hit and will continue working to keep snow off of roads.
“It’s the winds and drifts that are causing us the bulk of concerns,” said Lorne Stevens, director of community infrastructure.
“We’re getting reasonably caught up.”
Stevens said the City has five plow trucks, two graders and two loaders working and called in local company DBC Contractors Ltd. to assist.
“With 24/7 coverage, we’re either covering the roads or monitoring response,” said Stevens, Dec. 10.
“We are seemingly forecast to have another bout of snow later this week.”
Police responded to 14 non-injury property damage collisions, one injury multi-vehicle crash at Highway 791 and Highway 72 and 19 traffic-related service calls from Jan. 7-9.
“We attended to numerous motorists that had left the roadway and became stuck in the ditches and the centre median of the Highway (2),” said Alberta Sheriff Jason Graw.
“Each of these vehicles were checked for occupants as we came upon them to make sure that no one was in distress.”
Graw said highways are never closed unless an investigation is being conducted.
“For a weather-related event… the only time the highway is actually ‘closed’ is when it is physically impassable due to vehicles, debris or snow blocking the driving lane.”
Airdrie resident Chris Phillips had a rude awakening on Jan. 9 before driving to work in Calgary.
“I did have a drift pretty much up to my windshield all the way around my car,” he said.
“I had to spend over an hour digging out.”
Phillips averaged around 70 km/h driving on Highway 2 and said snow was blowing hard.
“The wind was pretty, pretty hectic,” he said.
“It was pushing the car down the road.”
During the clean up, residents are encouraged to remove their cars from city streets to reduce the potential of vehicles being plowed in.
“Mother Nature’s the one in charge and the best we can do is respond to it,” said Stevens.
For more information on snow clearing and the City’s policy, visit www.airdrie.ca
