Snow, high winds, and deteriorating road conditions have created quite an interesting morning Wednesday in parts of Saskatchewan.
Tuesday’s continuing winter storm has caused delays, cancellations and disruptions in Saskatchewan communities.
At 9:45 a.m., the Saskatchewan RCMP notified the public that traffic on Highway 1 between Regina and Moose Jaw was back due to a collision in the eastbound lanes about six miles east of Pense, Sask.
Read more:
City of Regina Enters Storm Mode When Environment Canada Announces Blizzard Warning
Police say both lanes are blocked and there is “a long setback of several miles of stopped vehicles” on the Trans-Canada Highway.
As a result, officials closed Highway 1 between the two cities due to road and weather conditions.
“If you are in one of the vehicles waiting for the road to open, do not leave your vehicle. Conserve your cell phone battery. If snow is piling up around vehicles, make sure the vehicle in front of you has a clean tailpipe, ”the Saskatchewan RCMP warned in a statement distributed Wednesday.
On the school side, students from the province’s urban and rural areas have needed to find alternative ways to get to school due to bus cancellations.
While school divisions have been forced to cancel school bus services on Wednesday, the city of Regina says transit buses are still on the roads.
Transit passengers are told to expect delays during the day due to the snowstorm.
Power outages have been reported to SaskPower since Tuesday when the storm hit the province.
Some areas affected by the outages Wednesday morning include communities in the Swift Current and Melfort areas.
More information on current outages can be found at SaskPower website.
SaskTel also warns customers that there are active outages in various communities due to power outages caused by the winter storm.
Read more:
Snowstorm, strong winds hit Saskatoon
The Crown Corporation said Wednesday that service impacts starting at 8 a.m. include Yellow Creek (wireless, Internet and home phone), Maude Lake (wireless), Kinistino (wireless) and James Smith First Nation (wireless).
Crews will work to restore services as soon as road conditions improve and travel is safe, according to SaskTel.
However, residents are told that more services may fail as backup battery power is depleted if commercial power is not restored.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Reference-globalnews.ca