A largely desolate stretch of Highway 11 coated in ice south of Prince Albert around lunch time today. (Facebook/Highway 11 Road Conditions (Only) - Saskatoon to Prince Albert)

By Glenn Hicks

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Stay off the roads: storm brings very dangerous conditions

Jan 13, 2021 | 2:03 PM

Freezing rain, heavy snow at times and blowing snow: this grim winter trifecta started around lunchtime in Prince Albert, bringing extremely dangerous conditions with it. The freezing precipitation was expected to transition to snow later and last well into the night. All city facilities closed at 3 p.m. with all staff asked to go home, given the dangers on the roads.

From lunchtime paNOW received reports of rain creating an instant hazardous film of ice on vehicle windshields and turning solid as soon as it hit the ground.

Those who have experience in our roads system called on the public to simply stay at home if they can and not venture out.

“We should all be looking to delay all non-urgent, non-essential travel,” Staff Sgt. Brian Kelly with the Prince Albert RCMP detachment told paNOW. “These conditions can become treacherous. It’s best to wait for tomorrow and allow highway workers to sand and improve the conditions.”

Kelly said even with such conditions there are always some motorists who fail to understand the dangers or think they have a safe enough vehicle to handle the challenges, and he expected his officers would be in for a busy time through the afternoon and evening.

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“There are very few vehicles that can actually safely navigate roads like this. Short of having chains and significant weight… you’re going to be travelling on glare ice, and there are very few vehicles that can safely navigate on glare ice,” he said.

A photo taken south of Prince Albert on highway 11. (Facebook)

This image of Highway 11 south of the city turned to a sheet of ice was captured by P.A. firefighters as they responded to an incident today. (Facebook/@PrinceAlbertFirefightersAssociation – Labor Union )

A photo taken between White Fox and Love on Highway 55. (Submitted/ Cliff Boyer)

Brent Kennedy, Prince Albert’s roadways manager echoed the verdict that unless you have to, you should not be driving in these conditions. He said he’d heard of employers who were telling colleagues living out of town to go home early before things get any worse.

The rain was freezing onto anything upon contact, like this P.A. downtown parking meter.(Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

Kennedy’s crews were prepared for the storm and were sanding Priority 1 routes, before moving onto Priority 2 later. And they are focusing on some of the known hotspots like hills.

“Oh yes, Sixth Avenue is one of our mains, so we’ll make sure we’re on that, as well as Ninth as it’s the hospital route.

“With this freezing rain, if you don’t have to drive, don’t, and if you have to then go very slowly. Be patient.”

Public facilities close early

The City of Prince Albert announced they were shutting all city facilities including City Hall, the Arts Centre, the Alfred Jenkins Field House, arenas and other recreation facilities as of 3 p.m. The RMs of P.A. and Buckland were also among those to close early.

“All city staff are instructed to go home at three to be safe because the roads in the city are very treacherous, it’s even worse on the highways,” mayor Greg Dionne told paNOW.” We apologize for any inconvenience that we may cause the public, but I am 100 per cent thinking of the safety of my staff.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow