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Not n(ice) weather

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Both the City of Brantford and County of Brant declared a “significant weather event” on Wednesday as freezing rain created dangerous road and sidewalk conditions for drivers and pedestrians.

Mike Tout, the county’s director of roads and operations, said he decided to make the declaration, something municipalities were given the ability to do starting last May, after seeing several cars in ditches on his morning commute from Woodstock.

“I felt comfortable doing 60 (kilometres an hour),” said Tout. “There were some people passing me at 100.”

Under the Municipal Act, Ontario municipalities may declare a significant weather event, which is defined as “an approaching or occurring weather hazard with the potential to pose a significant danger to users of the highways within a municipality.”

Declaring a significant weather event – this is the first time the city and county have done it – allows municipalities to notify the public that the condition of the roads, bike lanes and sidewalks will continue to deteriorate to a poor condition due to the weather, and it may take longer than normal to restore them.

Tout said the declaration provides municipalities with legal protection in the event of claims.

“The real issue is people don’t accept any responsibility for their behaviour,” he said. “They drive way too fast and if there’s an accident they blame the road conditions.

“We’re constantly having to defend all these claims.”

Environment Canada issued a freezing rain warning on Wednesday for southern Ontario, warning that surfaces, including highways, roads, walkways and parking lots, may become icy and slippery and ice build-up may cause utility outages and tree branches to break.

The freezing rain was expected to change into freezing drizzle Wednesday evening and continue into Thursday morning.

Tout said county road crews were out on Tuesday, and throughout that night, salting roads. They continued their work Wednesday and overnight, focusing first on the primary roads and then secondary.

Maria Visocchi, Brantford’s director of communications, said on Wednesday the city’s operational services crews were “continuing to work diligently to restore the roads to a safe condition as soon as possible.”

Nello Violin, the city’s director of operational services, said more than 30 trucks were out on Wednesday salting roads and others were patrolling for road and weather conditions.

“We are concerned about the temperatures staying below zero and the ice that’s accumulated staying in place,” he said.

“Although it’s supposed to get warmer, the surface temperatures are still below zero and when the rain falls it freezes instantly.”

Violin said residents can help city crews do their jobs by not parking vehicles on the street. In fact, he said, not driving or walking in these kinds of “hazardous conditions” unless absolutely necessary, is best. Violin said snow tires greatly improves the ability to drive in poor weather.

By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Brant OPP Const. Kevin Potter said they had received reports of about 20 accidents, none of them serious. There were no reports of injuries.

Const. Shane Seibert said city police had only about nine reports of collisions as of late Wednesday afternoon but there may have been other minor accidents sent to the collision reporting centre.

“There was one single vehicle sliding into a police vehicle, one single vehicle sliding into a street sign, a couple accidents where vehicles slid into and hit parked cars, and a couple others involving minor damage,” said Seibert.

Students had their third snow day of the school year on Wednesday, with both the Grand Erie District School Board and the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board closing schools and cancelling transportation. Classes for Laurier University and Conestoga College students were also cancelled.

“Any learning missed due to inclement weather days will be covered by teachers during the year to ensure students receive everything that was planned,” said Kimberly Newhouse, manager of communications for the Grand Erie board. “Our teachers are flexible and can adjust their plans for snow days, if required.”

Mike McDonald, superintendent of education for the Catholic board, agreed.

“At this point schools and teachers will do some reorganizing of schedules and adjusting of teaching learning strategies to accommodate the lost time, but the school year calendar will not be changed.”

When the significant weather event declaration is cancelled, it doesn’t necessarily mean the roads, bike lanes and sidewalks are in a good condition, said Tout.

“It only means that the County of Brant now feels that the weather has subsided enough that we can meet our required maintenance objective timelines.”

Visocchi said when the declaration is cancelled, the city will “address issues according to our regular standards for maintenance.”

The poor weather meant the cancellation of Brantford Lift services on Wednesday and extreme delays for passengers waiting for Brantford Transit.

Garbage and recycling collections in the city for the remainder of the week will occur one day later than normally scheduled.

The St. Leonard’s Soup Challenge set for Wednesday at the Best Western Brantford Hotel and Conference Centre has been rescheduled for Feb. 20.

mruby@postmedia.com

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