roads

Road crews are still busy clearing the routes in wake of the big storm.

Three truck drivers were injured early Tuesday morning when three tractor-trailers collided on Highway 401 in South Glengarry.

One trucker suffered serious non-life-threatening injuries while two others sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The crash occurred between mile marker 825 and mile marker 814.

The preliminary investigation has indicated that at 12:21 a.m., a tractor-trailer was travelling westbound on Highway 401 when, for reasons under investigation, was struck from behind by another westbound tractor-trailer. A third tractor-trailer struck the rear of the second tractor-trailer.

The Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry Ontario Provincial Police detachment continues to investigate with the assistance of OPP Traffic Collision Investigators.

Although we are getting another snowstorm, school bus service has not been cancelled today.

A structural fire has forced the closure of Concession 2 near Lancaster, between 1st Line Rd. and 2nd Line Rd., in South Glengarry.

Make it Snow Day Number 3 this week as Old Man Winter decided to give us another helping of snow last night and today.

We can look forward to milder temperatures, and, of course, freezing rain later today, apparently.

Take it easy out there, folks.

How bad is it? A snowplow was in the ditch on the 417 near St-Isidore earlier this morning.

School bus service has been cancelled throughout rural Eastern Ontario as snow and blowing snow have made driving treacherous.

Meanwhile, people continue to dig out from the weekend storm.

Area roads are covered with packed snow.

With Part 2 of Bill C-46 coming into effect December 18, the Ontario Provincial Police will begin to exercise new authority for investigating impaired drivers on Ontario roads.

Police officers will now be able to demand a roadside breath sample from any lawfully stopped driver to determine whether a person has alcohol in his or her body without first having to suspect the motorist has been drinking. Until now, officers had to have a reasonable suspicion that a driver had alcohol in their body before demanding a sample. Drivers need to be aware that it is mandatory for them to comply with this demand and that those who do not can be charged with failing or refusing to provide a breath sample. Under the new legislation, drivers impaired by alcohol will also face higher mandatory minimum fines and some higher maximum penalties.

"The new mandatory alcohol screening serves as an important deterrent to drivers who are impaired by alcohol, including those who believe they can avoid detection by police. So far this year, alcohol and/or drugs have been a factor in the deaths of 41 people on OPP-patrolled roads. Every person who uses our roads has the right to be safe. The OPP fully supports this and any other legislation that enhances our ability to reduce the number of preventable deaths attributed to this deadly driving behaviour."

The OPP has laid more than 7,300 impaired driving charges across the province between January 1 and mid-November.

Want to know why digital speed signs are posted on every road except yours?

Location of the displays is determined by authorities who have devised one big traffic management plan.

Read about it in the December 12 edition of The Glengarry News.

Roads are slippery.

North Glengarry is receiving $47,600 for a facilities assessment and asset management software project, delivered through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' federally-funded Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP).

The funds were part of the $4.5 million the FCM) and the federal government have announced for 109 initiatives across the country.

Aging roads, buildings and bridges are the challenges to be tackled under the FCM's new Municipal Asset Management Program, a five-year, $50-million program designed to help Canadian municipalities make informed infrastructure investment decisions based on sound asset management practices. The program is funded by the Government of Canada.