Niagara road conditions poor

Blowing snow and icy roads made driving a nightmare in the Niagara Peninsula Wednesday. Police responded to dozens and dozens of crashes, some of them serious enough to require people to be rushed to hospital.

One of the worst collisions was a head on crash on Highway 20 in West Lincoln. One of the vehicles had the front end smashed and the engine caught fire. Two people were rushed to hospital. Witnesses say they plowed into a pile of blowing snow on the road and spun out of control.

The first ambulance responding to this two vehicle crash couldn’t get up the hill on Thirty Road. It was too icy. So they had to call for another ambulance that was already up on the escarpment.

With blowing snow, icy roads and visibility near zero, driving was dangerous. This mega bus couldn’t even make the curve coming off the ramp at Westchester on the 406. At one point half a dozen cars were spinning their wheels on the ramp from the 406 to 58. They had to close the road to bring the plows in.

“Coming all the way from Welland. I’m halfway. Now it’s time to go back home”

There were vehicles spinning out and crashing into the jersey barrier. Cars sliding into the ditch. The OPP reported at the height of the storm in the golden horseshoe they were getting a collision call every minute.

“It wasn’t too bad when we crossed the border. It’s getting worse now.”

One of the worst places was Grimsby.

“It’s terrible really. All the roads are snow covered and slippery.”