OPP, travel experts urge to stay home as winter storm blankets southern Ontario

As a powerful winter storm sweeps across southern Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police are urging residents to stay off the roads. Hannah Schmidt reports.

As a powerful winter storm sweeps across southern Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) are urging residents to stay off the roads and remain at home unless absolutely necessary.

Heavy snowfall, high winds and icy conditions have led to dangerous driving conditions, causing multiple collisions throughout the region, according to Cambridge OPP.

“Within the last couple of days, we’ve responded to 50 motor vehicle collisions, which is a substantial number for us within our region,” said Const. Tabitha Susca. “And that also includes the number of vehicles in the ditch that we are coming across. More and more, we’re finding that drivers are either not alert and not paying attention or distracted driving and as a result, lose control and end up in the ditch.”

Susca noted that no one was seriously injured as a result of the weather related collisions.

Treacherous driving conditions

Environment Canada issued a winter storm warning Sunday morning, saying in part: “rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult over some locations. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”

Additionally, Public Safety Canada is encouraging people to make an emergency plan and get an emergency kit with drinking water, food, medicine, a first-aid kit and a flashlight.

It’s a message echoed by OPP.

“Avoid traveling if possible, unless you have an emergency,” urged Susca. “I think today’s a very important day to to stay home, spend time with your loved ones, be safe on the road. If you can’t postpone or cancel, if you have to travel, we do recommend always to take extra time because the roads are slippery. Conditions change very quickly. Even under all that snow, there’s ice, black ice. So drive carefully and cautiously. The very basics of getting back into the vehicle is making sure your lights are on, making sure that you’re seeing your tail lights are on, making sure that you’re cleaning your vehicle off.”

The Ministry of Transportation (MTO) says maintenance crews are in the process of clearing off highways.

A statement to CTV News read in part: “Our fleet includes over 1,400 pieces of winter maintenance equipment -- ready to be deployed to keep highways clear. We proactively use anti-icing liquid in advance of a winter storm, where appropriate, providing the first defense against snow, frost and ice. Maintenance staff maintain constant awareness of changing weather and road conditions through patrolling, highway cameras and MTO’s Road Weather Information System (RWIS) stations. We encourage all drivers to drive according to the conditions, allow extra time for travel, and to check Ontario 511 for up-to-date highway information.”

‘It’s been a busy week’

CAA reports that call volumes have surged this past week.

“Over the last week, about since Monday’s, it’s been about 1,800 people in the KW and Cambridge area, and the majority of those, about 75 per cent, are tow and winch related,” explained Nadia Matos, manager of external communications with CAA South Central Ontario. “It’s been a busy week, everybody has been all hands on deck and today is no different.”

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, Matos says CAA has received around 240 calls for service in the KW area. They predict the number of calls will only climb heading into the beginning of the week.

“It’s in the preceding days when people start saying: ‘I need to go about my life, I need to go to work, I need to go get groceries,’ and things like that. That’s when we see a higher call volume, when people actually start to move and start to kind of get out. So we anticipate in the coming days that it will be busier across our entire territory.”

Some areas have seen wait times for assistance stretch longer than usual due to high demand.

“The average estimated time of arrival right now is anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes,” explained Matos. “That’s way above our actual call volume. And that’s just because the roads are becoming or are very difficult to navigate around. So all those things kind of come into consideration when we give you an estimated time of arrival, or when we’re actually dealing with the weather or preparing for as we go up.”

CAA advises motorists to be patient and ensure they are properly equipped if they must travel.

“An emergency kit is obviously very important in case of emergency, but a lot of winter emergency kits have a collapsible snow shovel. Those are going to be great to get you in a pinch or even your mats in your vehicle can help to give you some traction. But we also recommend having some kitty litter in your trunk if you’re about to leave home. You know, that extra grip and traction will give you a little bit more leverage as you’re trying to get out.”

Matos also notes that if you are leaving your home, make sure to have at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle.

“That is if you happen to leave, you get yourself in a bit of predicament, that’ll allow you to stay warm.”

Transit disruptions

Grand River Transit (GRT) says commuters can expect some delays throughout the day, with some bus routes suspended due to poor visibility and snow accumulation.

A full list of service disruptions and updates can be found here.

What’s next for Waterloo Region?

According to Environment Canada, the winter storm system will be moving out of the region between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Another 5 cm of snow will accumulate in the afternoon.

They add that the KW area will see some lake effect snow at the beginning of the week, which will fizzle out by Wednesday.

About 5 to 10 cm of snow is expected to accumulate between Monday and Wednesday.