So much for spring. Storm-battered Barrhead took on a wintry look last Thursday, with scenes more characteristic of January – blizzards, snow-covered roads, vehicles in ditches, and graders and snowplows out and about.
North of Westlock, a collision claimed the lives of a 23-year-old woman, a four-year-old boy and a two-year-old boy. The victims were southbound on Highway 44 when their car collided head-on with a northbound Dodge pickup.
For about four hours Carillion Canada pulled its plows from major highways in the Barrhead and Westlock areas because conditions were deemed too dangerous.
“Visibility became too bad,” said Brandon Sandford, asset engineer with Alberta Transportation, which has a road maintenance contract with Carillion.
Several stretches of road were closed off for most of the day, forcing motorists to take alternative routes. Secondary highways, however, were almost impassable at times, with mounds of snow on both lanes.
Meanwhile, area schools were shut last Friday as Pembina Hills Regional Division scrapped its bus service because of the bad weather.
A casualty of the decision was Barrhead Elementary School’s spring assembly, scheduled for the afternoon.
Barrhead Composite High School principal David Garbutt said his students and staff left at the normal time on Thursday.
However, the school’s first annual “Small Town – Big Dreams” Talent Showcase scheduled for the evening was postponed.
“We will set another date,” said Garbutt.
Last week’s storm caused mayhem in parts of the province. Several inches of snow fell as a strong low pressure system pounded Central Alberta. Environment Canada put a snowfall warning in effect for Barrhead, Westlock and Athabasca, and many people took heed, putting off non-essential journeys.
Barrhead Fire Chief John Whittaker said the good sense shown by the majority of motorists made for a quiet day for his department.
“We did not even spin a wheel,” he said.
Whittaker said up to 3 p.m. last Thursday there were reports of only three vehicles going off the road between Highway 33 and Highway 43. The broader scenario between Barrhead and Edmonton was different with 28 to 30 reported accidents, said Whittaker.
He added that although most people showed good sense there was one incident that caused concern. “We heard that a driver stopped his car on the highway, got out and began knocking snow off his windscreen wipers,” he said. “The vehicle coming behind nearly went into him because the car’s taillights and licence plate were covered in snow.
“This should be a warning to all people to remove snow from the lights and plate.”
Motorists in the Barrhead area faced disruption as several stretches of highway were closed.
They included Highway 33, from Highway 43 to Highway 658; Highway 18, from Highway 43 to 20 kilometres east of Clyde; Highway 22, from Highway 18 to Mayerthorpe; Highway 44 from junction with Highway 2 to junction Highway 651.
The Highway 33 closures affected motorists travelling between Barrhead and Rich Valley and Fort Assiniboine. Drivers were advised to take alternative routes because of poor visibility.
More minor roads were just as treacherous, with ice and several inches of snow blanketing the surface, concealing lines.
“I couldn’t see the markings and ended up in a ditch,” one woman said.
Her experience was replicated across the county and different parts of the province.
One driver who returned to Barrhead from Camp Creek described the roads as “horrible.”
“It’s the worst I’ve seen in 20 years,” he said.
Rita Lyster, who chartered a bus to join pharmacists in an Edmonton protest rally on Thursday morning, said conditions were terrible. On the way back the bus was diverted because of road closures.
“It was a time for white knuckles,” she said.
Carillion Canada ordered its snowplows off area highways at about lunchtime on Thursday.
Sandford, who works at Alberta Transportation’s Athabasca office, said conditions had become too dangerous. Plows kicking up snow also created problems for other motorists.
“Nobody can see from behind,” he said.
Sandford added he expected Carillion plows to be out and about again at supper time.
At about 4:30 p.m. two Carillion plows were seen near Two Mile Corner, clearing the road towards Neerlandia and Westlock.
Later one of the plows worked on the snowbound Secondary Highway 654 connecting Barrhead to Manola.
Barrhead County Council’s Public Works Supt. Cal Fischer said the municipality’s 10 graders and one plow had been operating through the day.
In some parts of the province, road conditions were worsened by strong winds whipping up snow and reducing visibility still further.
A multi-vehicle accident near Leduc on Highway 2, south of Edmonton, left hundreds of people injured.
Traffic was diverted as police carried out investigations and emergency crews removed vehicles.
Patients were taken to hospitals in Edmonton, Leduc, Red Deer, Fort Saskatchewan, St. Albert, Devon, Wetaskiwin, Camrose and Stony Plain.
There was also a major crash on Thursday morning on Highway 16, west of Edmonton. Stony Plain RCMP said six vehicles, four of them semis, were involved in the collision.
