After approximately five hours of work clearing Deerfoot Trail of debris, snow and ice, authorities have reopened the route on Saturday afternoon.
The route was closed in both directions from McKnight Boulevard to Anderson Road S.W. at around noon on Saturday because of dangerous conditions on the road.
The closure was also due to a number of crashes on the highway, some involving as many as 10 vehicles. Between midnight and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, CPS were called to deal with 27 injury crashes and 211 non-injury crashes.
While Deerfoot Trail has been reopened, police are still advising caution out on the road.
"The weather today is making the roads challenging for drivers, and we definitely recommend that people should stay home today if they can," said Duty Inspector Jim Shaw in a release. "If you are out, please drive to the conditions. Slow down, leave lots of room between you and other vehicles, and turn your lights on so people can see you."
Jo-Lynn Sloan, one of the unfortunate drivers caught up in the mess earlier in the day said she was going pretty slow on Deerfoot Trail when a car behind her tried to pass.
"He swerved into my lane and hit the driver's side of my vehicle, in the front end and then I was moving over and a car behind me was probably doing about 30 or 40 km/h and I saw him and he just hit me from behind and spun me around."
Sloan said that after she came to a stop, she watched car after car slide into one another on Deerfoot Trail, including another driver who went completely off the road and into a power pole.
"I got on the phone with 911 immediately and looked over to see if she was okay. She was getting out of her vehicle to come up and let me know she was okay. I tried to step away from the car as best I could because I didn't know what else was coming."
She says she's never seen the conditions as bad as this.
"I've been driving with my work for the past 13 years. Never been in an accident. I have seen some unbelievable stuff out there, but nothing like this."
The city says crews were out ahead of the snowfall, preparing the roads for what was about to come.
"We had laid down about 80,000 litres of calcium on the roads to help with some of the melting," said Chris McGeachy, with the roads department.
McGeachy said that if you have to go somewhere, you need to take extra time to get there. It's also best to take caution around snow plows trying to work.
"If you see a plow on the road, we just ask that you slow down and give them room to work. They're trying to get it cleaned and hopefully we get past this soon."
CTV Weather Specialist Warren Dean says the snowfall was forecasted for Calgary a few days ago and we're expected to get about five to 10 cm before it's done for the day, likely around 5:00 p.m.
More snow is in store on Sunday, in the late afternoon through to early evening.
