Hwy. 11 fully re-open after major snowstorm hits cottage country

Highway 11 north of Toronto has fully re-opened after being closed in both directions due to a major storm that blanketed cottage country in upwards of 140 centimetres of snow.

The highway is now open in both directions between Orillia and Huntsville, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in an update on X.

The northbound lanes of the highway re-opened earlier this evening, while the southbound ones remained closed as crews continued to clean up, which Schmidt said took “longer than originally anticipated.”

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A state of emergency was declared for Gravenhurst, a town located in the Muskoka area, this weekend following a winter storm that dumped more than 100 centimetres of snowfall on the region.

Emergency crews were forced to pull people from their cars after they were stranded on area roadways.

Crews are working to clear roadways in Ontario's cottage country following a massive snowstorm over the weekend.

“It is a pretty scary situation. You may be in blowing snow, limited visibility. You may be on a live lane and there is traffic coming behind you,” Schmidt said in an earlier post on social media, noting that motorists in that situation should “make themselves as visible as possible.”

“(Keep) your full headlighting system on, your four-way flashing lights on.”

He said snow removal equipment from Toronto Pearson International Airport was used to help clear Highway 11 and that all available resources were being used to get the highway back up and running.

Gravenhurst Mayor Heidi Lorenz urged residents to stay off the roads if possible.

“We want residents to stay home. We know people are concerned about their neighbours and we want them to check on their neighbours, however if you can, stay home,” she said Monday.

“The roads that we are able to access, there is abandoned cars on them, there are fallen trees on them, there’s branches. We have hydro out in some places… If you have hydro and you are safe and warm, please do your very best to keep your travel to a minimum.”

The storm also caused power to be knocked out for thousands of households in the Muskoka area. Hydro One said crews continue to work “tirelessly” to restore power to about 170,000 customers. As of around 5 p.m. on Monday, the utility service said less than 11,000 customers are without power in Bracebridge, while 1,400 remain in the dark in Parry Sound and 3,100 in Penetanguishene.

With files from The Canadian Press