Wintry weather leads to widespread road closures in GTA & southern Ontario

Winter’s early arrival was still causing traffic headaches across the region as Environment Canada issued blowing snow advisories on Thursday afternoon for areas west of Toronto, including Mississauga, Brampton, Halton Hills, Milton, Burlington and Oakville.

Snow squalls in cottage country forced the shutdown of a portion Highway 400 for about 90 minutes.

Ontario provincial police had closed southbound Highway 400 from Highway 88 to Highway 9 in Bradford around 10:30 a.m. after several vehicles went into the ditch in the area.

The advisories come as parts of southwestern Ontario, including the GTA, continue to deal with icy and snowy roads following the first snowfalls of the pre-winter season.

Environment Canada issued a snow squall watch for Barrie and Orillia on Thursday. Guelph, southern Wellington County, Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo are also under a blowing snow advisory.

There were some school bus cancellations outside of the GTA. Click here for a full list.

The OPP also reported a slew of tractor-trailer crashes in the GTA due to icy road conditions following Wednesday’s snowfall in the region.

The eastbound Queen Elizabeth Way was closed at the Highway 403 split in Oakville after a tractor-trailer jackknifed around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. Only minor injuries were reported.

 

A few kilometres away, a collision involving a tractor-trailer blocked some eastbound lanes of the QEW at Dorval Road. The roadway has since reopened.

A tractor-trailer also jackknifed on the westbound QEW at Erin Mills Parkway just before midnight. The lanes were closed for a short while but was cleared up fairly quickly, and no injuries were reported.

And then on the westbound Highway 401, a tractor-trailer rolled over and went off the road at Highway 6 around 1 a.m.

Traffic in the area was slowed down, but no lanes were closed.

Winter weather makes its arrival

The GTA and other parts of southern Ontario were under an Environment Canada special weather statement Wednesday with warnings of blowing snow in some areas for most of the afternoon and evening.

 

By midnight on Thursday four centimetres of snow had fallen at Pearson Airport.

 

Winter officially arrives at 6:03 p.m. on Dec. 21.

Click here for the latest road closure updates from the Ministry of Transportation.

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