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Several crashes on snowy roads in southern Ontario have forced police to shut down some highways Friday, urging everyone to slow down while driving.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) reported multiple collisions that either closed highways or caused heavy traffic delays, including:
Eastbound Hwy. 401 from Guelph Line to Milton. Westbound Hwy. 401 from Cedar Creek Road near Cambridge to Woodstock was shut down around 12:15 p. m., “due to multiple collisions and poor weather and road conditions.”Westbound Hwy. 403 in Norwich Township. Eastbound Hwy. 402 at Wonderland Road S. in London was closed between 11 a. m. and 12:30 p. m., “due to a multi-vehicle collision and poor road conditions.”Perth Line 20 between Perth Road 164 and Perth Road 163 is closed after a vehicle blocked the road because of bad weather and road conditions. Hwy. 8 in West Perth was also closed due to a crash.
“The winter weather’s back and, well, so are the collisions,” OPP Sgt. Ed Sanchuk said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, from the Hwy. 402 crash scene.
“The OPP right now here in west region across southwestern Ontario are responding to multiple collisions in various communities and our local highways.”
Sanchuk added that Friday’s snowy conditions made roads slippery, reminding drivers to adjust their speed for the weather.
“The roadways are snow covered and in certain cases ice covered. They’re slick [and] slippery so we need people to slow down, leave enough time, room and distance between you and other vehicles, turn your entire headlighting system on and please reduce your speed,” he said.
Earlier today, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt shared a video from Hwy. 401 on X saying, “Mother Nature’s not done with us yet.”
He mentioned that snow was making driving tough around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area where several crashes happened.
Environment and Climate Change Canada put out a special weather statement covering much of southern Ontario-from Windsor up through Tobermory, over Toronto, all the way south of Ottawa-warning of heavy snow. There was also a wind warning for parts of that region.
Some places could see up to 15 cm of snow with winds reaching as high as 110 km/h.
The statement noted that heavy snow combined with blowing winds might cause poor visibility.
A winter storm warning was active for areas including Grand Bend, Exeter, Stratford, Wingham, Lucknow, and Port Elgin.
