Northern highways continue to see collisions and fatalities, fuelling northern New Democrat MPP Guy Bourgouin's push to get his 'Making Northern Highways Safer Act' passed at Queen's Park.
The Mushkegowuk-James Bay politician said seeing two major closures and a fatality on Highway 11 in the past week alone highlights why the province should start addressing the issue by increasing the quality of winter road care on Highways 11 and 17.
"The deaths that we've been seeing on the highways, it's very concerning. Now we're seeing roads being closed almost every week now, which we haven't seen in the past," said Bourgouin.
"Yes they were bad and they've always been bad, but it's more important now than ever."
Getting worse every year
Gino Hince, owner of the Hearst-based trucking company Hince Transport, said operating on northern highways is nerve-wracking for his drivers.
Hince said they frequently tell him about near misses, situations that forced them to drive along the shoulder of the highway and of the slippery conditions on the roads.
"Highway 11 is getting worse and worse every year," he said.
"Too many accidents happening, to tell you the truth. It's unbelievable. There's one a day."
Hince said part of the danger of driving on northern roads includes poor driving habits like risk-taking and distracted driving.
He said truck drivers tend to take risks to complete their routes on time, which can lead to collisions or veering off the road.
"I would start with double-lane highways (and) make it mandatory for snow tires," Hince said, about he would like to see.
The province established a Northern Transportation Task Force to address transportation challenges in the region, including road conditions.
The task force is meeting for the fourth time next week and it's co-chair, Danny Whalen, also head of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, said better road care on northern highways is one of the topics that will be discussed and that he fully support's Bourgouin's private member's bill.
Bourgouin said the Ontario legislature has the power to pass the bill as soon as the end of the month, adding this is a small step toward fully addressing the safety of these highways.
"If they recognize they need a task force, then they recognize that there is something seriously wrong with our roads," Bourgouin said.
