Freezing rain Friday made highways like 'driving on a skating rink'

Travel advisories were issued for some highways in central and northern Saskatchewan after freezing rain caused dangerous road conditions Friday evening, which one driver said made the roads like a "skating rink."

As of 11 a.m. Saturday, the Saskatchewan Highway Hotline showed no current travel advisories, though some highways in the province's north were still marked as covered or partly covered.

Rain on Friday evening left some highways coated in ice, prompting a "travel not recommended" advisory as of 7:30 p.m.

Areas affected included highways around Prince Albert, as well as roads near Nipawin, Shoal Lake, Red Earth, Smeaton and Birch Hills.

In Saskatoon, a multi-vehicle crash in the southbound lanes of 500 block of Circle Drive forced a closure there around 6 p.m., the Saskatoon Police Service said in a news release, urging drivers to slow down and drive cautiously due to freezing rain.

There were no serious injuries, despite multiple vehicles being involved, and the closure was lifted just before 9 p.m., the police service said.

Shania Evans, who lives in Prince Albert, said her normally 25-minute drive to Birch Hills took about 45 minutes longer Friday evening due to icy roads.

"It was slick ice. We only saw one car hit the ditch. We saw lots of people driving with their hazards [on]," Evans said in an interview Saturday.

It was "almost like … driving on a skating rink," she said.

A Friday night Facebook post by the volunteer fire department in Muskoday First Nation, southeast of Prince Albert, said the department was directing highway traffic through the community, after icy conditions left many vehicles unable to climb a hill on Highway 3.

Another Facebook user captured a video of a semi-truck flipping on the icy highway.

Muskoday vommunity safety officers and firefighters were stationed at key points along the detour, including both sides of the Muskoday bridge, making sure drivers reached the highway safely.

Evans, who had her kids in the car with her, praised the department for helping drivers navigate Friday's hazardous conditions.

"They gave us the directions, and when I went to start driving, my car started to slide.… Both my kids at the same time were starting to panic when we were going towards the ditch, of course," she said.