People build snowmen, spend night in vehicles after more major delays on Highway 93
Winter conditions persist as officials caution against travelling in affected areas
Wintry warnings and advisories are still in effect across Alberta Monday night, more than a day after asnowstorm peltedHighway 93between Banff and Radium, B.C., snarled traffic and forced some people to spend thenightin their vehicles.
A portion of Highway 93 going south wasclosed at Highway 1 near Castle Junction "due to a road obstruction" on Sunday evening,but Drive B.C. reported late Monday morning that it had since reopened.
511 Alberta had reported that a jackknifed semi-trailer hadclosed down one lane ofHighway 93 south.
On Sunday evening,RCMP were called to a multi-vehiclecrash west of the Banff townsite on Highway 93.
@CTVdavidspence Hopefully Highway 93 is on your radar today! So many semi's who lost control and backed Up traffic for up to 10 hours. Highway is shut down now. pic.twitter.com/RjmlM54xxO
—@JessicaScottYYC
For Calgarian Michelle Langfeldt, a typical three-hourtrip from her family's cabin in Invermere, B.C., to homewas stretched into a 14-hour trek.
Langfeldt, her boyfriendanddog leftInvermere at 11:30 a.m. and arrived home at1:30 a.m., after spending much of the trip having no idea what was causing delays due to a lack of cell service.
"It was just one calamity after the other. We saw only three snow plowsin the opposite direction over the span of 14 hours."
She says it was like a game of telephone trying to get information from other cars and that she heard of some people with babies in the cars but no food, so families were sharing snacks. Childrenbuilt snowmen to pass the time.
Others were running out of gas and electric vehicles out of chargeand had to pull over and wait until traffic began flowing.She saw one semi-truck stop in traffic to put snow chains on.
"I've driven that road a big chunk of my life and I've never seen anything like it," she said.
"Motorists were just getting very, very angry."
CBC News spoke with several people who had their travel significantly delayed because of theconditions. Many people on Twitter also said they were unable to connect with family members stuck on the highway due to poor cellphone service.
Banff RCMP confirmed that the affected area has no cell service.
In a statement to CBC News, Parks Canada said it is open to working with wireless carriers who want to provide cell coverage in Kootenay National Park.
A proposal was received in 2013, but the company ultimately decided not tonot to pursue the installation of wireless infrastructure along Highway 93 South, Parks Canada said.
There havebeen recent outages affecting phone customers in Alberta and B.C. as well.
"Mobility customers in British Columbia may be experiencing a service outage due to multiple fibre cuts as a result of adverse weather conditions," said Caroline Audet, a senior manager with Bell, in an email."We are working with our partners to restore services as quickly and safely as possible."
RCMP were on scene and hadreceived no injury reports.
Columbia Valley RCMP told CBC News they were in the area all day and into the evening Sunday rerouting Highway 1 traffic. Officers in the areawere still working on clearing vehicles, they said.
Personal update:
I haven't heard from my family for over 12 hours. It's likely been a long, trying night for hundreds of people stuck on Hwy 93 between Radium and Banff - a stretch that normally takes an hour and a half.
No cell reception or services up there. https://t.co/rrqUlhGYEK
—@KyleTWN
It's not the first time this month motorists have been stuck in their vehicles on that stretch of highway.Police are urging caution as winter weather is expected to get worse in the weeks ahead, and with construction detours in placeuntil Dec. 1.Highway 93 is the main detour for the Trans-Canada Highway,which is closed east of Golden for upgrades.
Meanwhile, southern B.C. is also being affected by mudslides and flooding further west that has also trapped travellers in their vehicles.
RCMP were warning of extreme road conditions across Banff National Park, and were asking people to stay off the roads.
Weather warnings blanket Alberta
Environment Canada issued multiple weather warnings for parts of Alberta on Monday that remained in effect as of 9 p.m., including a winter storm warning for areas along Highway 93.
There was alsoawinter storm warningfor Kootenay National Park and Yoho National Park.
Environment Canada said heavy snowfall will continue throughout the day in parts of the parks, including along the Trans-Canada Highway through the Kicking Horse Pass.
There was a snowfall warning for Banff National Park andKananaskis Country, and valley areas could get up to fivecentimetresbefore the snowturns to rain.
Environment Canada forecasted snow wouldfall through the night and turn into flurries, and gusty winds would continueuntilTuesday morning.
Albertans can monitor forecasts and alerts on the Environment Canada website. To report severe weather,emailEnvironment Canada atABstorm@ec.gc.ca or tweet usingthe hashtag #ABStorm.
With files from Colleen Underwood, Dave White and the Calgary Eyeopener