Outaouais mayors call for Highway 50 widening
CBC News | Posted: July 13, 2019 8:00 AM | Last Updated: July 13, 2019
Man, 25, died following Friday morning collision, while several injured in separate crash Thursday
Outaouais mayors are renewing their call for the Quebec government to widen Highway 50 after a pair of serious collisions this week.
The Sûreté du Québec said a 25-year-old man died following a head-on collision on the highway near Thurso, Que., Friday morning.
Five people were also injured, two seriously, in another crash further west on Highway 50 near L'Ange Gardien, Que., Thursday night.
Thurso Mayor Benoit Lauzon said the Quebec government needs to make a safety plan for the highway immediately.
"We deserve a real highway here in the Outaouais," Lauzon said in French.
"Highway 50 links two big urban centres, the Montreal region and Gatineau-Ottawa. It's important and it's necessary to have a four-lane highway here."
Announcement soon, minister says
Mathieu Lacombe, Quebec's Minister Responsible for the Outaouais, said he was upset by the crashes.
"I use the road with my children and I don't want it to happen to my family. It frustrates me that we can't act as quickly as we want," Lacombe said in a French-language interview that took place before the man was pronounced dead.
The representative for Papineau said there will be an announcement on road safety on the 50 in the coming months.
In January, Lacombe suggested the Ministry of Transportation was studying the possibility of metal fences along the road. He said it would be one of the fastest and cheapest options ahead of widening the road.
Widening preferred
The mayor of Thurso is not convinced a fence would be as effective as widening the highway and could raise problems in the winter or during an emergency response.
"The important thing is to make it safe. Would the fence be the best solution? That remains to be seen," Lauzon said.
Lochaber-Pointe-Ouest Mayor Pierre Renaud said a barrier, preferably using concrete, could be a reasonable interim solution if the government can't expand the roadway soon, but widening is his preferred solution.
"I think we have just one solution for that, it's very simple. It's doubling the roadway on each side of the highway," Renaud said.
Renaud, who expressed his condolences for the family of the man who died Friday, cautioned drivers to be careful on the highway.