'Time's a-wasting': Prescott mayor renews call to make Highway 401 safer
Crews were cleaning diesel spill from Monday crash when 2nd collision occurred, killing 2
The mayor of Prescott, Ont., is calling for swifter action to make Highway 401 safer after two serious crashes Monday that left two people dead and others injured.
The most recent crash happened in the highway's eastbound lanes between Prescott and Highway 416 at about 10:30 p.m., OPP said.
Two tractor trailers and three passenger vehicles collided. Two people were pronounced dead at the scene, another was airlifted to hospital in critical condition and three more were taken to hospital by ambulance.
The identities of the victims have not been released. The highway was reopened at 4:20 p.m.
A 60-year-old man from Brossard, Que., who was driving one of the tractor trailers was arrested, OPP said. He was charged with two counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, as well as four counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.
UPDATE Road Closure: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hwy401?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Hwy401</a> EB at Maitland Rd <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Prescott?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Prescott</a> - Hwy remains CLOSED. Reopening time unknown ^jp <a href="https://t.co/r4eIFmGLXa">pic.twitter.com/r4eIFmGLXa</a>
—@OPP_COMM_ERThe Monday night collision followed an afternoon crash involving two tractor trailers on the same stretch of highway westbound. That stretch of highway remained closed until about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Brett Todd, the mayor of Prescott, said in an interview near the crash site Tuesday that he's concerned about the number of serious crashes in the area.
401 'turning into a blood sport'
"We're almost seeing at certain times the 401 turning into a blood sport now. We've had a number of serious accidents in the last calendar year. And it's just very discouraging to see it yet again, and especially right here on our doorstep with loss of life, and of course the ongoing risk to our first responders and our volunteer fire department here in town," Todd said.
Todd has been calling for a third lane on the portion of the 401 through Eastern Ontario as a solution to the high number of collisions. But since last March's massive 30-car pileup on the 401 in Mallorytown, he has joined forces with other mayors in the region to lobby the province, which has now created the "Safe Corridor Working Group" to examine the issue.
The task force includes Todd as well as two other mayors from the region, representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and the OPP. But Todd is frustrated with the pace of action, with its first meeting taking place 6 months after the collision. "Incidents like this still underscore my frustration with the process."
A written statement from the transportation minister, Steven Del Duca, suggested a third lane for the 401 — the number one recommendation from local mayors — is not on its agenda,.
"At this time, the ministry does not have any plans to widen Highway 401 through this area," said the statement. "The ministry continuously monitors highway operations, safety and the existing conditions of its bridges and pavements in order to identify the need for improvements. As we replace the aging bridges that run over Highway 401 between Kingston and the Quebec border, we are taking the potential for future widening of Highway 401 into consideration."
Volunteer firefighters were still cleaning up spilled diesel fuel from the first crash in the 401's westbound lanes when the second crash happened in the eastbound lanes, Todd said.
After a fatal 30-vehicle crash near Mallorytown, Ont., in March that resulted in a chemical spill, Todd and a number of other eastern Ontario mayors started a working group to lobby Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca on ways to improve the increasingly busy corridor.
"I honestly think our biggest issue is just the overall growing congestion of traffic, the number of tractor trailers on the highways, and we're still stuck at two lanes here when most of the rest of the province has moved to three lanes along the 401," Todd said.
"There needs to be a lot of different things: more signage, better regulations with hazardous materials, better regulations with transportation during inclement weather, things like that.
"Time's a-wasting. We lost six months here and I'm still very frustrated with [the Transportation Ministry] that it's taken us this long to get to this point, especially when were still seeing accidents like this on the 401."
The working group had a conference call scheduled for Tuesday morning and a meeting set for Dec. 15, Todd said.
