Richmond RCMP has provided more information after Highway 91's eastbound traffic was shut down for almost three hours on Thursday night.
Eastbound lanes from the Nelson Road exit past Westminster Highway were closed off after a multi-vehicle collision was reported around 6:20 p.m.
While DriveBC initially reported more than 25 cars were involved in the pileup, Richmond RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Dennis Hwang said police are "unable to say with certainty the total number of vehicles involved."
Hwang told the Richmond News police received calls of "multiple clusters of smaller non-injury motor vehicle collisions along Highway 91 at Nelson Road."
However, due to high call volume priority calls in the city, resources, as well as "challenging weather conditions," Richmond RCMP were only able to respond to "serious injury motor vehicle collision."
Richmond recorded its first snowfall of the year on Thursday afternoon and the Highway 91 shutdown took place mere hours after traffic in Metro Vancouver fell into gridlock.
In photos and a video submitted by Shane MacKichan, vehicles were seen stuck in a standstill in the eastbound lanes with some veering off to the side of the road.
MacKichan told the News crews struggled to get past the stopped traffic and arrive at the scene.
The first eastbound lane ultimately reopened shortly before 8 p.m. and the highway was clear by 9 p.m.
According to an update from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation, three vehicles were towed while the others drove away on their own.
It added MainRoad, the contractor responsible for maintaining highways in the Lower Mainland, said there was "inadequate tread and type of tires on many vehicles for the conditions."
A further update from DriveBC at 11 p.m. then indicated some parts of Highway 91 eastbound traffic between Shell and No. 6 roads were icy and crews were notified.
Forecasts call for a brief reprieve from snow over the weekend with flurries expected to start again on Tuesday. Despite the sunny forecast, an Arctic outflow warning remains in place until Saturday.
According to Weatherhood, temperatures in Richmond city centre today will hit a high of -10C and a low of -14C before it warms up to a high of -2C on Saturday.
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