FORT FRANCES — Any means that will draw attention to the need for improvements to winter travel on northern highways is welcomed.
Fort Frances town council decided to support an effort to tighten safety measures for motorists driving Ontario’s northern highways year-round.
Councillor Wendy Brunetta suggested to council when it met Aug. 11 that it consider supporting Bill 49, the Northern Highway 11 and 17 Safety Act. The proposed legislation was brought to the floor at Queen’s Park in June by the New Democratic Party.
“Unfortunately, accidents and highway closures have become the norm along Highways 11 and 17,” Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois, a co-sponsor of the bill, wrote in a letter to town council.
“While there are measures needed beyond what is in this bill, for example, the need to have more passing lanes, fully paved shoulders, and rest stops, this bill identifies issues that can be addressed immediately that will also have an immediate impact on highway safety.”
Bill 49 proposes to amend the Highway Traffic Act and the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act. It adds an avenue by which the minister of Transportation shall ensure scales and inspection sites along the portion of Highway 11 that is north of North Bay and along Highway 17 are staffed at least 12 hours a day.
It proposes the province will provide sufficient OPP traffic enforcement and that commercial truck drivers must be tested by an examiner certified by the Ministry of Transportation before being licensed.
The legislation also looks to add a section to the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act to provide provincially-managed winter maintenance operations for the portion of Highway 11 that is north of North Bay and for Highway 17.
Coun. John McTaggart said he supports portions of the proposed legislation, but he doesn’t agree that the thoroughfares’ winter maintenance should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Transportation.
“I think we’re just wasting our time, quite frankly,” he said.
Coun. Bill Morrison disagreed. He said there’s been a noticeable deterioration in the level of effective winter highway maintenance since the switch to private contractors.
“I know it hasn’t been cleaned as much,” Morrison said of the highways.
Specifically, plow operators haven’t always cleared all the way to the highway surface, he said.
“I kind of worry about that,” he said. “I’ve seen going over slush and it’s just very dangerous.”
Such dangerous conditions have led to traffic accidents, he said.
“It’s just heartbreaking to see families affected by all the accidents I see more often,” Morrison said.
Brunetta said the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association has a presence on a northern highway safety task force and the Highways 11 and 17 corridors comprise just a small piece of the northern highway infrastructure.
“But it’s something that draws more attention to our area,” she said.
Fort Frances Times / Local Journalism Initiative
