Watch cars slide as overnight freeze turns local roads into ice rinks

The latest storm to pass through southwestern Ontario brought a nasty mix of snow and freezing rain on Monday night.

The wintery weather left treacherous driving conditions in its wake.

Cynthia Bachelor was relieved to get home.

“It was definitely really slippery when I was driving home from work today,” Bachelor told CTV News as she shovelled the sidewalk in front of her home.

City crews began clearing and salting arterial roads and bus route prior to the evening rush hour, but on many side streets freezing rain accumulated on the compacted snow.

Drivers slid their vehicles to a stop at intersections, and spinning wheels struggled to regain traction as they accelerated.

“It’s an ice rink out here,” one driver said from his vehicle on Emery Street. “It’s just completely slick! I thought last week was bad, this is even worse!”

London Transit managed to keep its buses running all evening — albeit slowly and with some detours.

Sidewalk conditions varied widely for pedestrians, some were covered with crunchy snow while others coated in ice.

As he walked in Wortley Village, John Sakaluk was grateful to property owners who had already cleared stretches of the sidewalk.

“It’s hugely important to me,” Sakaluk explained. “A lot of people in this community walk on the sidewalks and that doesn’t just include primetime hours.”

It could take a couple days for city crews to clear the wintery mix of ice and snow.