For the third time in a week on Monday, snow played into the morning commute for Saanich drivers.
Traffic moved slow along the slippery routes of West Saanich and Uptown, as a surprise flurry brought a few new centimetres and caused a chaotic commute for many.
Old West Saanich Road was partially closed at Linnet Lane because of a two-car collision. That was reported at about 7:30 a.m.
A fender bender also slowed traffic along Tattersall Drive, as cars slid up, and down, the hilly section of road.
Reports were still filing in early Monday afternoon. Friday also had a number of crashes, though the three- to five-centimetre snowfall kept a large amount of cars off the road.
Traffic was noticeably lighter, though schools remained open on Friday. Because of the ideal conditions, many families kept their children home for a rare snow day. Friday’s snowfall ranged between three centimetres near Swan Lake, up to five centimetres at Camosun’s College’s interurban campus, and down to a light frosting in parts of Saanich, such as Cadboro Bay.
“It ended up being about eight reported [motor vehicle incidents] on Friday,” said Saanich Police acting Sgt. Jereme Leslie.
Of the reported Friday crashes, one car slid off Prospect Lake Road near Munn Road and crashed into a tree. Others slid off the road at Tattersall and Blenkinsop roads.
Despite the slight surge in car crashes, the snow didn’t bring a large volume of calls to police, with minor reports of injury. The number of reports following the initial snow fall on Dec. 6, which quickly turned into icy roads, was in line with the daily average for a weekday commute, Leslie said.
“It’s not for certain, but I’d say it’s likely Saanich’s work helped in reducing road-condition type crashes,” Leslie added.
Saanich crews worked continuously through the night on Thursday and Friday with five tandem trucks, that both salt and plow, and three smaller salt-and-plow vehicles. A sixth large truck was out of commission for service on Friday.
Saanich trucks also brine the roads with a salt solution before expected snow fall and projected temperature drops below zero.