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Parked semi-trucks and vehicles lined a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway outside Winnipeg for several hours on Sunday, after transport officials closed a nearly 150-kilometre section due to blowing snow and dangerous driving conditions. 

Highway 1 between Winnipeg and Sidney, Man., located about 60 kilometres east of Brandon, was closed just after 8 a.m. on Sunday, and reopened around 6 p.m., according to Manitoba 511. 

Truck driver Manpreet Singh, who was en route to Edmonton, was stuck on the highway near Headingley for several hours during the closure. It’s not the first time snowy, slippery driving conditions have forced him to park.

“It’s happening in the winter again and again,” Singh said, adding drivers who cannot avoid getting out on the roads in bad winter weather should always “drive slowly and according to the weather conditions.”

The closure came amid at least a dozen other highway shut downs in the province on Sunday.

Ashish Sood, who works at a Headingley cannabis store, said business was slow on Sunday. 

“Maybe customers don’t want to come today,” he said as he stood next to an empty, snowy parking lot.

There was “zero visibility” while he was taking an Uber to work, he said, adding he was already on the way to work when the store owner called and said he could stay home due to the poor weather.

“It’s pretty bad here,” he said. 

Area resident Ken Scarff said the highway was “plugged up solid” as he looked on from a nearby gas station, where he was quickly filling up his vehicle’s tank before heading back home. 

“They’ve been closing it quite a few times in the last little while, but it’s all for all our safety, so that’s good,” Scarff said. 

He encouraged Manitobans to avoid driving during poor weather, if possible. 

“We don’t want to have the emergency folks coming out looking for us, so just stay close to home if you can.”

WATCH | Bad weather leads to several highway closures in Manitoba:

Bad weather leads to several highway closures in Manitoba

Poor winter driving conditions forced the closure of at least a dozen highways in Manitoba on Sunday, some for the second time in days.