Sask. highways improving after heavy snow

Heavy snowfall Sunday night left many Saskatchewan highways in shambles to start the week off.

Late Sunday and early Monday, the Highway Hotline issued a number of ‘travel not recommended’ advisories on major highways like the 11, the Yellowhead and the Trans-Canada.

It made for difficult commutes for many.

Blake Lerat works in Indian Head and lives just a short drive down the road away.

However, it took quite a bit longer Monday morning.

“Heck, we still have snow flying around. The highway’s mediocre, half of it’s covered,” he said at the time.

He drove 80km/h to be careful through the massive snowbanks.

Dean Lucyk drove from Moose Jaw to his lake house on Last Mountain Lake Sunday night. He said he’s usually a pretty confident driver, but even he was shaken up.

“The drive was interesting. It was such light, swirling snow that anytime you had someone come in front of you, your visibility was toast. Then, we got stuck behind a semi with no lights on in the dark, so you couldn’t see at all,” he said.

He’s glad to have a few days off because it wouldn’t be easy to get back to Moose Jaw for now.

“I have to dig ourselves out to even get to the truck. There’s just so much snow,” he continued.

Graham Newberry had to work early Monday at his job in Lanigan, about 130 km east of Saskatoon on Highway 16.

He lives in town, so he didn’t have to work the highways, but his drive to work was still quite a bit tougher than usual, mostly because of the bad visibility.

“When it’s not too windy, it’s very good. But when it’s windy, it’s crap. You can’t see a thing, almost,” he said.

While highways were clearly affected by the storm, those living in cities weren’t unaffected.

Devin Arams lives and works in Regina. He was set to work Monday morning, but the weather didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

“I tried pulling out of my parking spot in my back alley, and I only made it like 10 feet, 15 feet and got stuck in the snow right away,” he said.

Thankfully, he said he was able to get a tow truck.

“I definitely wouldn’t have gotten out on my own. I tried pushing and no luck.”

The Highway Hotline had removed most of its ‘travel not recommended’ advisories in Saskatchewan by early Monday afternoon.

To see the latest on the roads, click here.

To see the latest weather watches and warnings, go to the Environment Canada website.