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City crews halted residential blading operations after only one day as blizzard-like conditions forced snow removal staff to focus on clearing roadways Tuesday until further notice.

A heavy snowfall also led to tough traffic conditions as Edmonton police responded to 279 collisions in total since 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

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This winter has been an “anomaly year” in terms of frequent freezing cycles, the city said, and it risks Tuesday’s snow refreezing on highways if crews didn’t clear it before blading resumes.

“We’re going to be moving forward and suspending those residential blading cycles until we get our priority-one and -twos bladed off and moving freely again,” said Andrew Grant, general supervisor of infrastructure field operations.

The dump of snow has also led to worsened road conditions and drastically limited visibility.

City police responded to 37 hit-and-runs, 22 collisions with injuries and 220 property damages totalling 279 crashes between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m..