Snow plows, crashes and a long wait for salt as Windsor wages war on the white stuff

A massive dumping of snow Friday had Windsor police responding to dozens of car crashes and extra plows taking to the streets to try to keep them clear as the white stuff continued to pile up.

Snow fell steadily through the morning and into the evening, with 12 cm recorded at the Windsor Airport as of 3 p.m. and another 5 cm expected.

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"It's an incredible amount of snow," said Josh Trocchi, who was using a shovel to clear the sidewalk."I like it, but I don't like it at the same time."

The University of Windsor student added shoveling is "not fun" and watched jealously assnowplows thundered by.

The City of Windsor started sending out trucks around 2 a.m. in an attempt to head off the expected snowstorm, according to manager of public works,Phong Nguy.

"We have been on it right from the start," he said, adding double trucks were being used on main roads to clear two lanes instead of the usual one."We're moving the snow a lot faster from the lanes to the curb."

Nguysaid the plows drivers were picking their way through the snow carefully, along with the rest of Windsor's traffic.

"The drivers are excellent. They're paying attention to the snowplows, paying attention to the traffic," he explained. "We do have some accidents but it's very minimal."

Const. Andrew Drouillard said police had responded to at least 24 collisions by 2 p.m.

"We're encouraging people to plan ahead to get to their destination, slow it down and get to your destination safely."

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One spot where drivers had no choice but to slow down was Windsor Salt's OjibwayMine, where truckswaitedhours for a load.

"Everybody wants salt today with the snow coming, so we wait," said driver Michelle Shaw, who described the wait as "extreme."

Luckily for Shaw, she only had to drive to LaSalle, while some other drivers were facing a trek all the way back to Toronto.