Black ice creating dangerous conditions for Toronto drivers and pedestrians
Parts of the GTA were blasted by a snowstorm that came in late last night, and now drivers, cyclists and pedestrians are struggling with the ensuing black ice.
Environment Canada issued a winter weather advisory yesterday, and said that Toronto could see between two to four centimetres of snow by Thursday morning.
"Flurries producing heavy bursts of snow will combine with strong wind gusts up to 70 km/h to result in blowing snow and significantly reduced visibilities at times," the advisory said. "Travel may be hazardous due to sudden changes in weather."
With the snow came hazardous black ice, which is visually transparent and often means that its patches are invisible to drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Several people flocked to social media to warn others about the state of Toronto's roads and bike lanes this morning.
It is a total sheet of ice on all the roadways and sidewalks in downtown Toronto. Took the pup for a walk, people falling and slipping everywhere. Cars sliding sideways into each other. What a shit show. If you have any mobility issues, stay home. Yikes. #Ice
— Working from home (@Working92459567) December 1, 2022
According to multiple people, the sidewalks in downtown Toronto were a mess, with pedestrians falling and slipping everywhere.
Ice, Ice, Baby. 🥶
— Andrew Thomson (@Thomson416) December 1, 2022
No, not a comment on my Spotify year-end list (although similar in both genre and vintage to that) -- thinking more about Toronto's sidewalks this morning. Be careful out there!
A Reddit thread posted this morning also provided a heads up to cyclists that "bike lines are basically straight black ice at the moment."
"Just a heads up to anyone cycling the bike lanes have a LOT of black ice right now," the thread reads.
Another person chimed in writing, "everything, everywhere was black ice this morning."
Black Ice Causing Jam On Hwy401. 🛣4️⃣0️⃣1️⃣🇨🇦
— 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) December 1, 2022
.#HWY401 #blackice #ONHwys #OPP #Roadsafety #snowstorm #winter #Weathercloud #traffic #Toronto #Kitchener #trucking #TruckDriver pic.twitter.com/1XzjCrWQcd
"I rode down to the tip of Tommy Thompson Park this morning and the road was basically a skating rink the whole way," another user wrote.
According to The Weather Channel, if you encounter black ice you should keep your steering wheel straight, do not brake (especially too hard), and take your foot off the accelerator to reduce your speed.
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