×
Rob Maguire tweeted out a picture of an icy parking lot in Regina's downtown area after freezing rain hit the city on Jan. 9, 2018. (@MaguireBob/Twitter)

School buses cancelled after freezing rain in Regina

Jan 9, 2018 | 10:35 PM

A January rainshower on Tuesday afternoon and evening followed by cold temperatures has left residential streets, parking lots and sidewalks looking like curling rinks in Regina.

Regina police responded to 17 crashes over 24 hours including three where injuries were reported. Police noted it isn’t clear if icy conditions contributed to all of those crashes.

The icy conditions even prompted the Regina Public School Division to cancel all school buses for Wednesday.

Regina Catholic Schools also cancelled bus service for the day.

According to Prairie Valley School Division outside the city, individual bus drivers make the decision to cancel their routes and are expected to notify families individually.

Schools around Regina all remain open.

Standing Buffalo First Nation has cancelled school and the route between Standing Buffalo and Fort Qu’Appelle was closed early Wednesday. The Peepeekisis Pesakastew School on the Peepeekisis First Nation near Balcarres is also closed for the day.

Early Wednesday morning the main roads inside the city were not as icy as drivers may have expected.

Environment Canada lifted a freezing rain warning for the City of Regina late Tuesday evening, however, the RCMP advised people to take caution while driving.

“We just want to reinforce for people that the highway conditions in the Regina area are extremely slippery and extremely dangerous due to rain and freezing rain,” said Paul Dederick, who speaks on behalf of Saskatchewan RCMP. “We have extremely dangerous conditions on highways in and around the Regina area which include highway 6, Highway 1 and 11.”

He said that people need to slow down and drive with extreme caution. He didn’t have an exact number but said there were reports of multiple vehicles in the ditch and involved in crashes with other vehicles on Highway 6 along with Highway 1.

Dederick added on the bright side there weren’t any serious injuries reported. Overnight on Tuesday, the Highway Hotline reported temporary closures due to crashes on Highway 1 east of Balgonie to McLean and on Highway 56 between Indian Head and Katepwa Lake. Both of those highways reopened after an hour or two. By Wednesday morning, the Highway Hotline showed most highways east of Regina had winter driving conditions with icy sections.

Tweets trickle down

As the rain poured, several people in Regina took to social media.

 

Discover more on CJME.com

More
On Air Now
The Evan Bray Show - Encore Edition
12:00 AM - 3:00 AM

Sports

Sask. hockey player resting at home after neck slashed by skate

6h ago
'Considering the circumstances ... this is best-case scenario,' Cole Cusitar said.
Read More