Sask. digging out again, travel not recommended on several highways
It is another day of digging out for many people in Saskatchewan.
The Government of Saskatchewan's Highway Hotline map is recommending drivers avoid travel on several roadways. Click here for an updated list.
That's after Environment Canada issued a snowfall warning yesterday for a band of communities in central and southern Saskatchewan. That snowfall warning is still in effect for parts of the province as a low pressure system tracks along the U.S. border.
A band of snow roughly spanning from Lloydminster through North Battleford, Saskatoon and to Moosomin will receive about 10 to 15 centimetres. It is expected to weaken through the day. Click here for an updated list of communities under a snowfall warning.
The CBC's Tory Gillis said that on Highway 11 between Regina and Davidson, driving conditions are poor. There were snowdrifts between Bethune and Davidson and it was often difficult to see lanes.
City of Regina in storm mode
Regina had received about 12 centimetres of snow as of 9 a.m. CST Friday morning, according to Tyler Bien, manager of roadway seasonal operations.
Bien said the city entered storm response mode Thursday night, which means it will focus on the high-speed and high-volume roads and continue until the snow stops falling.
"We clear snow, we apply ice control, we do that to ensure all emergency routes have adequate access for emergency vehicles," he said during a news conference Friday morning.
All of Regina's approximately 50 available equipment units are active, he said. That includes street and sidewalk plows, graders, ice control trucks and the trucks that haul the snow away.
When the city's storm response mode finishes, work will then focus on systematically plowing less important roadways. The city expects residents to see better roads by the end of the weekend.
Bien couldn't put a cost to the current storm situation, but said the city has spent about $8.1 million on winter road maintenance since November.
