Since this Friday, the two departments of Loire and Haute-Loire have been placed on orange alert for snow and ice. A vigilance that should last until Saturday 4 p.m.. The authorities urge caution, and ask residents to do not take the car when possible.
Wind complicates snow removal
This Saturday’s snow is in addition to that which fell the day before. With the ready difference that it swirls. With the gusts of wind, snowdrifts appear. These are sometimes thick reliefs that form. “The wind and the snow continue, it means that the roads are snow-covered again barely the 45 snowplows passed”explains Yves Dadole, in charge of roads in the Loire department.
In Saint Etienne, priority is given to the main axes, “entrances to towns, highways and major roads”, as explained by Marion Saumet, director of the living environment service at PC Neige in the city. These are passable, always remaining very careful. For the secondary axes, it is a little more complicated. It has already snowed this Friday, so “People had trouble parking, which makes interventions more complicated”.
In terms of public transport, traffic is also difficult. At 9.30 a.m., no bus line circulated in Saint-Etienne and in the Ondaine valley. The tram, on the other hand, runs normally. Traffic is tricky around Saint-Etienne, on the A72 and on the N88.
“The biggest snow episodes of this winter”
This is “the biggest episode of this type of all winter”, explains Yves Dadole. The situation is similar in Haute-Loire, particularly in the east of the department. A hundred agents from the department are hard at work clearing the roads. The prefecture has banned the circulation of trucks over 7.5 tonnes are prohibited from driving until 12 noon. A call for caution there too. Several vehicles ran off the road, fortunately not serious. The authorities recall that it is necessary that theVehicles are equipped with special equipment, such as winter tires and chains.