Photo of crash involving a semi and a Yellowhead Road and Bridge plow/via YRB Nicola

A disappointing start to the winter season for the folks tasked with keeping the Coquihalla clear.

Yellowhead Road and Bridge General Manager Dave Duncan tells Radio NL a semi blew past their plow trucks clearing the highway northbound on the downslope of Larson Hill – between Snowshed Hill and Merritt – at highway speeds Tuesday night, and clipped one of their plow trucks.

“Struck our plow truck wing and then basically blew out 15 pieces of barrier,” said Duncan. “There was damage all across the highway.”

Duncan says the crash – while not leaving anyone seriously hurt – did shutdown the Coquihalla northbound for around nine hours overnight. The plow truck driver suffered only minor whiplash, but Duncan says they should be fine.

He says while 98 per cent of commercial drivers respect the rules and road conditions, there are some who are acting too aggressively.

“There’s a few truck drivers out there that are just driving too fast and are trying to make too much time and not paying attention to our truck drivers or to the other folks out there,” said Duncan.

There is no word on any charges.

Duncan says the crash came as crews were dealing with around 30 centimeters of snow on parts of the Coquihalla – three times what Environment Canada had originally predicted.