Edmonton police warn of 'especially slippery' commute

Friday morning rush hour in Edmonton is expected to be dicey as freezing rain and a dusting of snow covers roads and highways across Alberta in black ice.

As of 8 a.m, minor fender benders — and vehicles which had slid into the ditch — were causing bottlenecks and traffic jams across the city.

Edmonton police are urging drivers to have patience during the morning commute.

Edmonton police staff. Sgt. Barry Maron with the west division police detachment said drivers should give themselves extra time to safely reach their destination.

The roads are “awful” this morning, Maron said, and city intersections are especially slippery.

“We haven’t had any serious-injury [crashes] come in yet, thank goodness, but the day is early yet,” Maron told CBC News around 7:30 a.m.

“As the snow continues to fall, we can expect the roads are going to get slippery.” 

Drivers can get a little rusty after a season of summer driving and the road conditions will be no help.

“The ground isn’t frozen yet so we’re getting some warmth up from the ground which melts that first little layer and then puts ice on top of that,” Maron said.

Alberta highways were also slick. Environment Canada has issued freezing rain warnings for much of central Alberta, including Red Deer, Ponoka, Rocky Mountain House and Nordegg.

Emergency crews, including the Millet Volunteer Fire Department, were called to the scene of a jackknifed semi around 5:30 a.m., on the QEII near Township Road 484. 

No one was injured in the crash but RCMP remained on scene to direct traffic around the crash, said Capt. Trevor Palmer, public information officer with the department.

Returning to the station from that scene, firefighters came across a gravel truck that had gone off the road near Township Road 481.

Palmer pleaded with drivers to slow down for emergency vehicles. 

“There were everything from passenger vehicles through to fully-loaded semis that were blowing by us,” Palmer said. 

“The roads out there are glare ice.”

RCMP were also responding to a multi-vehicle collision eastbound on Highway 16 at Highway 830, east of Ardrossan. Drivers in that area have been warned to expect delays. 

Environment Canada expects the freezing rain to develop early Friday morning in the Rocky Mountain House and Red Deer areas and move eastward through the day. The freezing rain should end by this afternoon.

The advisory warned that surfaces like highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery.

“Take extra care when walking or driving in affected areas. Slow down driving in slippery conditions,” reads the advisory.

“Watch for tail lights ahead and maintain a safe following distance.” 

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