The word of the day for March 5, 2019 along the lakeshore between Cobourg and Brighton was “extreme.”
Collisions started coming in around the noon hour and didn’t stop for hours as white-out conditions enveloped the lakeshore for several hours.
There were reports of a 20 vehicle collision on Highway 401 west of Colborne in the westbound lanes.
Westbound lanes were shut down, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
A multi-vehicle collision just east of Cobourg in the eastbound lanes also tied up traffic.
Traffic was re-routed in several areas, but transports had hard time navigating the snow covered hills and became stuck along several roadways.
‘I haven’t seen a snowstorm like this since the 70’s,” said veteran tow operator John Prentice from Prentice Towing as he navigated his way through vehicles along the westbound lanes to get to the scene of the collisions.
“This is absolutely insane.”
With the number of vehicles that were stranded along Highway 401, Northumberland OPP had two snowmobiles travel along the westbound lanes of Highway 401 west of Colborne, then to Brighton to check on stranded motorists who had been in their vehicles for several hours.
“Our job was to go and make sure no one was in distress and everyone was safe and warm,” said Northumberland OPP Constable Jeff Laporte as he stopped briefly on his way to Brighton..
The veteran police officer described conditions along the area highways as “very extreme.”
Laporte and .Constable Richard Boyd were coming from the Warkworth area when they received the call for assistance on Highway 401.
“As soon as we hit Castleton and southbound it was crazy. We couldn’t see two feet in front of us.”
The last time Laporte recalls the snowmobiles being on Highway 401 was in 1992 when severe weather hit the area with 60 centimetres of snow.
There were no reports of any serious injuries in any of the collisions.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
