Tuesday, January 22, 2008

HWY CLOSURE MAY BE ANOTHER 24 HOURS

(Batchawana Bay, Ont.) Sault Ste Marie OPP are now advising that Hwy 17 between Batchawana Bay and Wawa may be closed for at least another 24 hours.

An intense weather front is resulting in an accumulation of four to six inches (15 centimeters) of snow on the roadway per hour in an area between Batchawana Bay and Montreal River. Plow trucks are experiencing difficulty keeping the heavy snow fall off the roadway. The heavy snow fall combined with high winds have not let up, and are not expected to let up for at least the next 24 hours. Highway maintenance crews are reporting zero visibility due to snow squalls since the storm set in yesterday.

OPP are suggesting that any wishing to travel further north may want to consider using Hwy 129, at Thessalon then Hwy 101 over to Wawa.

Hwy 17 between Batchawana Bay and Wawa will be opened when the weather lets up. This section of the Trans Canada Hwy is continuously being monitored by the Ministry of Transportation and the OPP.


MINOR INJURIES IN LAIRD TOWNSHIP CRASH

(Laird Township, Ont.) One person was injured yesterday morning after a vehicle left the roadway and went into the ditch.

Yesterday at about 10:45 a.m. a mini van was traveling west on Hwy 17 between Lake George Road and Barr River Road in Laird Township. For reasons that are yet unknown, the vehicle left the roadway and went into the ditch. The occupants of the vehicle were shaken up and sore but otherwise not injured.

The investigation is ongoing and so far no charges have been laid in this crash.