It’s become a common occurrence this winter – extreme weather conditions sweeping through the county.
Frigid wind with blowing and drifting snow on Feb. 27 forced the county and Centre Wellington Township to temporarily pull snow plows off the roads, and caused 61 accidents, including two involving police cruisers.
Luckily, the OPP reported there were no serious injuries last Thursday during the blowing snow and gusting winds, which created very difficult driving conditions with poor visibility.
Wellington County OPP Inspector Scott Lawson said many of the accidents were the result of drivers not slowing down during poor weather conditions.
“There was no staying on top of it,” Lawson said of the number of accidents.
Of the two involving cruisers, he added, “They (officers) are waiting at a scene or closure and we get hit.”
The inspector said it was fortunate no one, including OPP officers, were injured.
The weather also forced a rare afternoon cancellation of school buses in North Wellington.
The Town of Minto municipal office on Highway 89 northeast of Harriston was also closed around noon and drivers were advised by the municipality to stay off the roads.
Wellington County operations manager Paul Johnson said the county pulled plows off roads north of the Grand River at around 3pm. Staff advised police of the move and the roads were closed.
Johnson said the problem was the wind blowing snow off high snow banks and the snow settling on the roads, which created drifts hazardous to drivers.
Roadway conditions are conveyed to the county roads facility by plow drivers.
“If it gets to the point it is not safe for the driver he has the right to pull over and advise us,” Johnson said.
“Once the wind starts blowing over those banks it blows snow at windshield level and makes visibility poor.”
Roads remained closed, off and on, until around 9pm.
Johnson said the county telephone road information line was swamped with calls by people wanting to know road conditions and closures.
“We had staff answering the phones, but there weren’t enough lines,” he said. “There were a lot of people whose calls were rejected.”
The county budgeted $4.5 million for road maintenance this year. Johnson explained the budget runs from January to January so there is still money in the budget, even though exact figures are not available.
The county has established a reserve fund for surplus money from previous road budgets. This year a lot will depend on weather conditions in March and in November and December.
“We’re likely to be in a deficit,” Johnson said.
On Feb. 28, the day after the storm, county crews spent time pushing back and cutting down snow banks.
“The guys have been working as hard as possible and doing a great job regarding the weather,” Johnson added. “This has been an unusual winter.”
And police are reminding people the season is not yet over.
The OPP is reminding motorists to slow down and drive according to the conditions. Police also say drivers should not call 911 or the OPP for road condition reports.
