Ten days of snow and freezing temperatures have made it nearly impossible for drivers to get around the city but a break in the weather on Wednesday is allowing crews to get the upper hand on the roads.
Temperatures on Wednesday finally reached the plus side which is a welcome change for drivers and emergency responders who have had to deal with thousands of crashes over the last few days.
Officers say they attended to 292 non-injury and 13 injury crashes on Tuesday which brings the total to just over 2,100 crashes in the past ten days.
Auto body shops in the city say they are getting a number of calls from people who have been in crashes and say the waiting list is now at least a month long.
"Our phones, from the time we get in in the morning to the time we go home at night, it is constantly ringing," said David Fox from Image Auto Body Ltd."We do feel sympathetic for the consumer because unfortunately they can't get into a repair facility in a timely manner."
City crews are nearly done on Priority 1 and 2 routes and hope to be in clearing residential areas in the next few days.
The budget for winter maintainance is $34 M and the city says there is a reserve fund of $3.5 M if it is needed.
