During a visit last week to Thunder Bay, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he can relate to the many drivers concerned about safety on northern highways.
“We drove all over the north during the election and snow was coming down,” he told reporters. “We had a pretty heavy winter. It was terrifying. But until you see it first-hand, you can’t appreciate it.”
Ford specifically pointed to the “treacherous” stretch of highway between Sudbury and Toronto.
“That two-lane is like white-knuckle driving down there,” he said. “If the transport is off by two inches…you’re done.”
Ford said he’s “all in” on the idea of twinning more sections of the Trans-Canada Highway in northwestern Ontario, and promised that his government will do “everything we can” to improve the safety of northern highways.
Ford’s comments came just days after the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) called on the federal and provincial governments to consider its pitch for improving Highways 11 and 17.
Their idea is to convert stretches of both highways into a 2+1 model — a three-lane highway with a centre passing lane that changes direction approximately every two to five kilometres. Common in parts of Europe, the 2+1 model is considered much more cost-efficient than twinning a highway.
FONOM president Danny Whalen spoke about the group's pitch on a recent episode of Village Media's Closer Look podcast.
“The biggest seller for improving the highway, of course, is to reduce the number of deaths,” Whalen said. “When I’m in Toronto — either at Queen’s Park or at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario speaking — I tell them: ‘While you’re down here talking about gridlock, I’m in the north talking about burying people.’”
You can watch the full interview HERE.
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