The many days this winter with blustery weather, fluctuating temperatures and precipitation have left roadways in southern Manitoba in poor driving conditions, more often than not.

From poor visibility to highways that are more like skating rinks, it has been a harsh number of months out on the roads.

Tara Liske is the Executive Director of Highway Regional Operations with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure. She says whether to use sand or salt to improve traction, depends on the temperatures and traffic. "The salt that we use is not effective below -18 degrees Celsius, so once the temperatures drop really low, we can only rely upon sand to increase traction on our highways. And with the blowing winds and the blowing snow it will blow the sand off and too much traffic will wear it off too. So it's a fine line with whether we can effectively treat highways with sand based on the traffic volumes and if there's wind."

Liske says the highways department has been working non-stop since this most recent series of Alberta Clippers first started back in December.

"It's been extremely challenging because of the back-to-back snow events that we have been having, and the amount of snow, and specifically blowing snow. Our operators, some of them have been working non-stop since Christmas, seven days a week and working long hours," she explains. "We have staggered shifts so many of our staff have been starting as early as 4:00 am and driving on roads to understand the conditions that they'll be up against for the day and working until dark."

"This year specifically, as most of us know, there's been a number of road closures and most of those have been due to poor visibility due to the blowing snow that we've had. So, when the visibility is zero and our roads are closed, our operators can't see either, so we need to ensure their safety and they need to be off the roads as well," she adds.

During these times, staff is then allocated to other areas to assist in road maintenance on stretches that are still open to assist with snow-clearing efforts.

In addition to the weather extremes, road maintenance staff are also seeing unsafe driving habits from fellow motorists who are driving too close to their machinery or trying to pass in unsafe conditions.

"Public tips that we share with motorists is that when you're approaching equipment, slow down," shares Liske. "And we encourage drivers not to pass equipment when they're plowing because they're kicking up snow and that could be hazardous reducing visibility for people who are passing equipment as well."

She also encourages motorists to check the province's road conditions site. That site can be found by clicking on our Boyd Autobody and Glass Road Report.