Snow snarls Montreal traffic as crews struggle to clear streets after temperature drop

Snowy weather caused disruptions across Montreal on Thursday, leading to traffic accidents, transit delays and difficult conditions for snow-clearing crews.

Messy, snowy weather caused widespread disruptions across Montreal on Thursday, leading to traffic accidents, transit delays and difficult conditions for snow-clearing crews across the city.

An Environment Canada snowfall warning will remain in place until Thursday evening for the Greater Montreal area, with an additional 2 to 4 centimetres expected to fall. The weather agency warns that visibility will be reduced at times, and drivers should continue to watch out for deteriorating travel conditions.

• Hourly and 7-day forecast on our CTVNewsMontreal.ca weather hub

Collisions and delays

Quebec officials say the rapidly changing weather conditions made roads particularly dangerous during the morning commute, with heavy vehicles among the hardest hit.

“A lot of minor accidents, but also a lot of trucks that had a hard time getting on or off, highways,” said Louis-André Bertrand with Transport Quebec.

On the South Shore, police reported several collisions throughout the morning, including a multi-vehicle crash involving nearly a dozen cars on Route 132. Longueuil police say there were no major injuries.

Public transit was also affected.

The REM line between Deux-Montagnes and Mont-Royal was temporarily out of service, forcing commuters to find alternate ways to get around.

According to a spokesperson, ice buildup on overhead power lines caused the disruption, and crews are working to reduce future weather-related service interruptions.

Complications in Montreal

Montreal city officials said snow-clearing operations were complicated by a rapid temperature drop that turned wet snow into ice during morning rush hour, particularly in the downtown core.

“Yesterday was spring, and today it’s winter. In two hours, there was a drastic change of temperature,” said Philippe Sabourin, a spokesperson for the City of Montreal.

Sabourin said the snowfall itself was not unusually heavy, but crews struggled to keep up as traffic slowed the movement of plows and salt trucks.

“It’s a normal rush hour, I admit, but we were on duty with 1,000 trucks, 1,000 employees, but stuck into the traffic. That doesn’t help,” he said.

With a vast network of streets and sidewalks to maintain, the city is now focusing on clearing operations, with sidewalks identified as a top priority.

“We’re keeping an eye on the sidewalks, and we’re asking everyone to park your car 30 centimetres away. So we will have enough room in order to do a good job,” Sabourin said.

He added that city crews will continue working around the clock as conditions stabilize, calling it a challenging period both for snow-clearing teams and for residents navigating winter travel across the city.

Snow removal operations have not yet been launched. Sabourin said the decision will depend on the total accumulation once the storm system passes.

“We will see. If we reach 15 centimetres, we will have to launch a snow removal [operation],” he said. “But the decision hasn’t been done yet. We will wait until tomorrow, Friday, once the snowstorm will pass away, to take the decision.”

Quick links

• Hydro-Quebec outage map
• STM bus and Metro
• Aéroports de Montreal: Departures | Arrivals
• Exo commuter train status
• Via rail trains status
• City of Montreal snow removal, parking, towing
• Free parking spots
• My car was towed

- With files from Swidda Rassy