Snowstorm rages on; Kincardine streets a mess; and Highway 21 closed again

Residents and motorists in the Kincardine area struggled through day four of the raging snowstorm of 2018, with more snow and high wind Thursday, causing more blowing and drifting snow and poor driving conditions.

Highway 21 from Amberley to Goderich remained closed for the fourth day in a row. And by 6 p.m., the South Bruce OPP had closed Highway 21 from Port Elgin to Amberley due to high wind, blowing snow and pockets of zero visibility.

Kincardine is currently under an extreme cold warning alert by Environment Canada, and a snow squall warning. The temperature is expected to fall rapidly Thursday night, to a low of minus-20 degrees Celsius, with wind chill near minus-30 degrees Celsius.

The temperature and wind chill values will be slightly lower Friday night. The extreme cold will continue until Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, in the Town of Kincardine, the streets are a mess, full of potholes, and resembling rutted gravel sideroads in the spring.

Kincardine public works operations manager Don Huston said there are a few factors involved in the roughness of the roads.

"With the extreme cold, the snow is getting packed with the high traffic volume, and during the day when it warms up a bit, the salt is starting to melt the snow creating soft pockets within the roads system which drivers are experiencing," he said. "A good example is when you drive into your driveway, you pack the snow down with the tires. On each side of the vehicle, the snow is a lot easier to remove with your blower or shovel.

"With the road system in town, there could be 500-plus vehicles driving the roads before the plows get to them and then the snow is difficult to remove."

Huston said snowplows don't have a way to press down on the blades to help with the removal of the packed snow. Also, when residents blow snow on the road, vehicles pack this onto the road as well, he said.

"Trying to plow during the day in a subdivision is challenging with vehicles parked on the road," said Huston, "as there are places the plow can't get through."

Huston referred to the following major objectives for winter snowplowing and sanding operations in the Municipality of Kincardine:
 

• To reduce the hazards of icy road conditions to motorists, especially at hills, curves,and intersections
• To reduce economic losses to the community caused by winter weather conditions
• To facilitate the handling of emergencies by fire, emergency services and police officials
• To maintain safe passable routes within the financial limits of the municipality’s budget

 

The Municipality DOES NOT operate a night time sanding or plowing shift of personnel. With the exception of patrol trucks, sanders and snowplows will generally not operate between 3:30 p.m. and the route call-out time for the next day (normally 3 a.m., from Monday through Friday, and 4 a.m. Saturday and Sunday).