Many side streets around Charlottetown weren’t plowed until Monday afternoon, following an extended storm dumping heavy snow on Prince Edward Island.
Islanders, like other people across the region, were out Monday morning shovelling their driveways.
It was the biggest winter storm in recent memory, so severe that most P.E.I. medical facilities cancelled appointments — including all scheduled surgeries — while many schools, businesses, and government offices closed their doors.
Even a byelection in Borden-Kinkora was postponed.
Blowing snow was one of the key obstacles throughout the storm, with conditions becoming so bad the Confederation Bridge had to be closed. It reopened near midday.
Some side streets were only navigable by tractors hired to clear driveways. Those streets saw snow up to more than knee high piled in big drifts.
Plows were taken off the road late Sunday night and took much of the day catching up.
Major streets, like Charlottetown’s University Avenue, were the focus of snow clearing efforts, which included some main sidewalks; however wind caused sidewalks to quickly fill up with snowbanks, making it difficult to pass.
That blowing snow mostly cleared up by late Monday afternoon.
It’s expected to be some time before streets are fully cleared.
