Winter storm grazes Ontario

Wintry weather is working its way to our region from the southern U.S. It arrived there earlier this week and it’s making its way here. Light snow began to fall in the Hamilton and Niagara area Monday afternoon and more could be on the way. A special weather statement from Environment Canada says the Hamilton, Halton and Toronto area won’t get much snow but Niagara could be in for more.

So with wintry weather on the way, municipalities are keeping a close eye on the road to see how they’ll need to handle them.

The city of Hamilton’s official for winter control says they’ve been keeping an eye on the approaching snow and are ready for it when it arrives.

The system is here in some areas, with parts of Niagara getting hit. CHCH News cameras also caught a light dusting in the Jerseyville Road area earlier Tuesday afternoon. It’s still too early to tell the intensity, but Bob Paul, Hamilton’s acting manager of winter control says the city has 110 plows and 49 contracted plows on standby. Once it’s deemed necessary, they’ll start handling priority roads like the Linc, King Street and Wilson Street in Ancaster.

There are some plows out right now watching those high-traffic routes to make sure everything is clear for drivers. Depending on how this storm plays out, Paul says if you live on a side street you can expect it to take longer for your road to be plowed as they take care of those main routes first. “We’ve been monitoring the weather all day long, actually starting last night. Crews have been out inspecting the routes making sure that road temperature and air temperature are within range before applying any material or anything.”

That material is salt. And in the rural areas, a sand-salt mixture. Paul says some of those vehicles are already out monitoring ramps and bridges. If you’re driving behind a plow or a salter, he recommends staying back about 25 metres to stay as safe as possible.