Deerfoot Trail reopens after hours-long closure due to bad weather, multi-vehicle crashes

Deerfoot Trail has reopenedafter it was closed in both directions betweenStoney Trail S.E. and Glenmore Trailin Calgary, as emergency crews dealt with multiplecrashes involving dozens of vehicles on Saturday afternoon.

Between 6 a.m. and 5:45p.m.on Saturday, there were 284crashes reported to police, with 34involving injuries.

EMS said that as of 4:30 p.m. Saturday, eight people had been taken to hospital all in non-life-threatening condition because ofcrashes on the Deerfoot.

The first multi-vehicle crashes onDeerfootTrailhappened around11 a.m. Saturdayabout the time snow started to fall involving several vehicles near the 16th Avenue overpass.

Another multi-car crash happenedsoon after near DeerfootTrailand Memorial Drive.

That was followed by another reported at DeerfootTrail and 32ndAvenueN.E.

As crash reports continued to flood in, police made the decision to close the highway in both directions betweenMcKnightBlvd. and Anderson Rd. just after noon, and drivers were cautioned to avoid the area.

The highway was not fully reopened until approximately 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening.

Police later said on social media they were coordinating with Carmacks, which handles maintenance of the highway,to do anechelon plow of the closed section staggering plows across the road to clear it quicker in an effort to speed up the process of reopening.

Gary Brooks, division manager of maintenance with Carmacks, said that in the approximately 18 years he's dealt with DeerfootTrail,he's only seen closures of this scale "maybe two or three times."

"Anytime you get heavy daytime snowfall, especially on a Saturday with people rushing to get somewhere, you'll see situations like this," he said.

Multiple crashes cause Deerfoot Trail closure

7 years ago

Duration 0:39

Multiple crashes cause Deerfoot Trail closure

Saturday's forecast calledfor temperatures to fall to 23 C by the evening and the snow to continue falling throughout the day.

A snowfall warning was issued by Environment Canada on Saturday afternoon which included Banff, Canmore, Calgary, Okotoks, High River and the Crowsnest Pass.

Up to 20 centimetres of snow is expected to fall in the mountain region and up to 10 centimetres in Calgary, with the snowfall expected to taper off through the evening.

On Sunday, officials said asnow route parking ban will come into effect at 9 a.m. Monday.

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