The extreme cold that cracked a rail line on the city’s LRT system Tuesday morning also put a chill on efforts to repair it.
The damaged rail has caused delays for south-side commuters, triggering traffic back-ups at 51st Avenue and 111th Street eastbound and forcing crews to manually operate the LRT crossing gates.
The rail line cracked when temperatures plunged to –34 C. Repairing it will take about 24 hours longer than expected, city spokesperson Kimberly Brunelle said Wednesday.
Overnight temperatures hovered around –40 C and the city’s repair equipment kept breaking down.
“Unfortunately, the extreme cold was extremely challenging,” Brunelle said.
“Even the equipment was breaking as they were trying to fix the crack.”
The repairs on the rail were expected to be finished by 9 a.m., Brunelle said.
“It will take us a while to get up to full speed but by the ride home, it should be back to normal.”
The cold also caused a water main to freeze and burst overnight at Churchill Station and caused city parking meters to freeze up.
“We’re just going to be on standby with this extreme weather throughout the week,” Brunelle said.
Frigid arctic air has swept across most of Western Canada, delivering bone-chilling cold to Alberta. The entire province is under an extreme cold warning.
The cold, which has kept the province in a deep freeze since Sunday, has put dangerous pressure on the power grid, nearly causing power outages. Car batteries have frozen. Roads have become dangerously slick. Morning commutes have been clouded with ice fog.
Schools across the province have closed their doors or cancelled bus service. Municipalities have opened emergency shelters for people living on the streets. Emergency rooms have been flooded with cold-related injuries.
The Alberta Motor Association has fielded more than 14,000 calls to for roadside assistance in the past two days and some drivers are being told they may have to wait up to two days for help.
With 65 per cent of the calls related to battery issues, the AMA is urging drivers to take preventive measures.
Edmonton is in the grips of another record-breaker Wednesday with temperatures hovering around –39 C and a biting wind that makes it feel more like –45.
The previous daily record for the capital city was set in 2011 when the mercury fell to a mere –26 C.
Environment Canada is reminding Albertans to bundle up and be mindful that frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially when there is a wind chill.
Alberta isn’t expected to thaw out until Sunday when the temperature is expected to rise to –4 C.