Improving highway maintenance standards in Northern Ontario can save lives, says Guy Bourgouin.
The Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP announced today that he's reintroducing a private member's bill to make winter driving safer on Highway 11 and 17 by legislating that roads be cleared within eight hours of a snowfall. It would require classifying the northern highways the same as the 400 series highways, where there are strict snow removal requirements.
The next step, said Bourgouin, would be a 2+1 highway system in the north. It's a three-lane road with continuous, alternating passing lanes at regular intervals to prevent long lines of traffic behind slower vehicles and reduce unsafe passing.
In Ontario, Bourgouin said the standard of restoring the highway to bare pavement is based on traffic volume and overlooks critical differences in vehicles. The private member's bill would classify highways 11 and 17 as Class 1 in all sections, whether two or four lanes, and eliminate the vehicular traffic speculation.
This is the second time that Bourgouin is introducing the bill. In 2019, it was defeated in a vote that was skipped by the three Northern Ontario government ministers — Greg Rickford, Ross Romano and Vic Fedeli.
Bourgouin said 2013 data show 54,000 truck trips per week on the highway and those numbers have increased.
“They travel along the Northern Ontario highway network and carry more than half a million tonnes of commodities with an estimated total value of $1.24 billion,” he said.
Too many Northern Ontarios have died or suffered life-altering injuries on poorly maintained winter roads, he said.
“For example, drivers with motor vehicles registered in Cochrane region are twice as likely to be killed in a highway accident as those whose vehicle is registered in the Halton Region. When it comes to motor vehicles registered in Timiskaming region, the chance of a fatal collision are almost four times higher than in the Toronto region,” he said.
Mark Andrews, the former OPP North East Region traffic and marine unit commander, and Mario Villeneuve, Villeneuve Construction vice-president and second vice-president of the Ontario Road Builders Association, were also part of today's virtual news conference.
Andrews said Ontario needs to take notice to prevent the TransCanada link from being severed for any duration.
“In simple terms, one human life, one transport full of live stock being euthanized because the livestock were on the truck too long, one ambulance delay, one medical appointment missed, one missed delivery of goods and services is too many,” he said.
He explained there are required speeds for trucks to properly lay down sand and salt, but the contractor is also under pressure to move quickly.
“The number of times that I’ve seen flash freezes and I’ve seen winter road closures because they haven’t got ahead of the storm and it’s moved too fast,” he said.
Road safety on Highway 11 and 17, said Villeneuve, is a year-round situation, noting the amount of tourism during the summer.
“The road conditions, especially during winter, are clearly being neglected. I would not blame the contractor, but the contractual situation of the contract themselves. Very important to upgrade the categories of those main arteries on an economic level, but mainly on a safety level. We all know the north is fuelling the south and with economic development coming up in the north, with many mines … the traffic has exploded in the last years and the safety of our workers and families is a priority and it is urgent for the government to act,” he said.
