Highway 401 eastbound reopened early Friday afternoon after Oxford County OPP closed it as a result of numerous collisions in both directions east of Highway 403.
OPP Const. Lisa Narancsik says "There was a constant series of collisions over a period of many hours it was happening, that led to the highway being closed due to blockages."
Fortunately, with all those collisions only two drivers were sent to hospital with minor injuries.
The eastbound lanes of Highway 401 were rerouted onto Highway 403 and the road closed from there to Cedar Creek Road for more than two hours, while the westbound in the area remained open but were slow because of multiple crashes in that direction as well.
Icy road conditions likely contributed to the more than a dozen collisions in the early afternoon and even more earlier in the day between Woodstock and Kitchener.
Narancsik says "We've had a lot of snow, we've had a lot of ice. People need to adjust their driving behaviour to the road and weather conditions. When we're driving on the highway there's a lot of traffic out there. We need to give ourselves the space so that we can react in case we need to."
With files from CTV Kitchener
