Police close local highways due to weather

Snow squalls and strong winds made for treacherous conditions, closing portions of the 401 and 402 on Thursday.

In between heavy squalls, traffic crawled. But transport drivers contend some motorists aren’t respecting the conditions.

“Just look at this highway. It's unreal. [Motorists] just won't slow down,” said Transport Driver Don Mote.

And that’s partly why emergency officials decided early in the day to put a stop to traffic on a section of Highway 401 and most of the 402.

The decision to close the highway was made just after midnight as police reported 80 crashes and near zero visibility.

With a police escort, CTV News London traveled on the 402 just as the squalls were letting up.

“I know it's unbelievable because there's no traffic on the roadway, but we're standing in the westbound lanes of Highway 402," said Sgt. Ed Sanchuk.

While CTV News, along with the police escort, stopped in the westbound lanes, traffic appeared normal in the eastbound lanes.

“We can see people here travelling in the closed eastbound lanes. They're obviously going around the gates and barriers, and we obviously had some people go around the barriers to Highway 401 this morning,” said Sanchuk. “I can tell you, the first of those individuals that were going through the road closed barricades have received tickets this morning.”

The fine is $110 dollars. It may not seem like much to some, but Sanchuk warned of a potentially greater price to pay.

“There may be an investigation or maybe people in the roadway. And if people aren't paying attention, that now puts emergency personnel in jeopardy as well,” he said.