Nipissing NDP candidate Loren Mick has proposed changes to make northern highways more safe.
"Safety on TransCanada Highways 11, 144, and 17 remains the top concern for Northern Ontario residents," he says in a news release. "These highways are our lifelines, used daily for work, school, and community activities, yet they remain shared with thousands of commercial trucks, creating safety risks."
He says the NDP have consistently worked to improve highway safety from exposing inadequate winter maintenance through the Northern Road Report to introducing legislation aimed at strengthening driver training and highway standards.
"Despite these efforts, the current government continues to downplay the severity of the situation, claiming that Ontario’s highways are among the safest in North America. Investigative reports and lived experiences from northern residents tell a different story. Poorly trained commercial drivers and the companies that enable them are putting lives at risk."
Loren Mick is calling for immediate and long-term solutions to make highways safer, including:
- Immediate Action: All new commercial drivers must be tested by Ministry of Transportation inspectors instead of private companies to ensure proper training.
- Short-Term Measures: Highway maintenance operations should return to MTO oversight, increased staffing for inspections and enforcement, and expedited 2+1 highway pilot projects.
- Medium-Term Improvements: Mandatory snow tires for Northern Ontario vehicles, better winter driving training, stricter enforcement of commercial vehicle standards, and more rest stops with maintained facilities.
- Long-Term Goals: Paving and widening shoulders, expanding Highway 11 and 17 into divided four-lane highways, and investing in rail transportation to reduce truck traffic.