The daunting task of clearing roads of massive snow drifts and abandoned vehicles is continuing across midwestern Ontario.
Numerous roads and highways remained closed Wednesday morning due to poor conditions. They became impassable during back-to-back snowstorms and high winds that began over the long weekend. Area residents have been repeatedly asked to stay home while efforts to clean up the wintry mess are underway.
On Tuesday night, large blowers were brought in to clear massive snow drifts from Huron County roads.
A driver who chose to drive around a road closed sign ended up flipping their vehicle, Huron OPP reported. Luckily, the driver was not hurt in the crash. According to police, the incident serves as a reminder of why drivers should never ignore road closure signs.
"The OPP makes the decision to close roadways for good reason. It may seem clear in front of your home, but down the road there could be a multi-vehicle collision, or dangerous white-out conditions like we experienced today," said Constable Craig Soldan. "If you see a road closure sign, trust us, there is a good reason for it be put in place."
The fine for driving on a closed road is $110 and three demerit points upon conviction, Soldan noted.
Drivers are also being reminded that sightlines can also be reduced by large piles of snow heaped on corners. As such, drivers should be extremely cautious when pulling out of driveways, approaching intersections, or moving around snowbanks because they may not be able to see pedestrians on sidewalks or other vehicles travelling on the road.
Around 8:30 a.m. Huron OPP announced that several roads remained closed, including: Highway 21 between Grand Bend and Amberley, Highway 4 from Clinton to Exeter, County Rd 4 from Wingham to Teeswater, Lucknow Line from Blyth Road to Lucknow, Orchard Line from Huron Road (Highway 8) to Bayfield Road, Porter's Hill Line from Huron Road to Bayfield Road, and Dutch Line between Base Line and Blyth Road.
Around the same time, Bruce County announced nearly three dozen of its roads were once again open. It is the first time since Monday afternoon any Bruce County-maintained roads were open to motorists.
Despite the rapid re-openings, all school buses in Huron-Perth, Grey-Bruce, and North Wellington were cancelled for the day. There were also numerous school closures. The full list is available on the CKNXNewsToday.ca closures page.
Environment Canada ended a winter weather travel advisory for North Huron and a snow squall warning for South Bruce around 9 a.m. Forecasters expected just 2 to 4 centimetres to fall across the region throughout the day, with another 2 to 4 centimetres possible in the evening.