Contractors Could Face Fines Following Weekend Closures Of #Hwy17
Image tweeted by @StevenDelDuca · November 20th with comment “Safety is my #1 priority as Transportation Minister. MTO will take action if maintenance standards aren’t met #onpoli”. Click to enlarge.
NORTHWESTERN, ON – Highway 17 East of Terrace Bay to Marathon (and at times through to White River) was closed repeatedly this past weekend due to freezing rain and packed ice. Travelers who made it through the portion of highway between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning were definitely in the minority as the approximately 80km stretch (approx.180km Terrace Bay to White River) saw more time closed to one or both lanes then it did being open!
In response to this, Minister of Transportation Steven DelDuca is conducting a review looking into whether the private contractor responsible for road maintenance met the province’s standards.
Del Duca was quoted by the CBC as saying “So I don’t know exactly what happened in this case, why there might have been a specific challenge on this stretch of highway, that’s why we’re doing the review, but by-and-large, area contractors have done a strong job.”
The MTO announced in October that it was hiring new staff to oversee the work of contractors and ensure they are meeting newly implemented performance targets. The targets include requiring the Trans-Canada Highway, including Highway 17 on the Northshore, be plowed every 2.2 hours in a snowstorm and to bare pavement within 16 hours of the end of a storm.
The Ministry of Transportation conducts reviews after every weather-related Trans-Canada closure in Ontario. Contractors could face fines if the recent Highway 17 closure review, expected by the end of the week, finds contractors didn’t meet requirements.
RELATED LINKS
- Highway closure press release November 29 – December 1st
- Follow OntarioNewsNorth.com on Twitter for links to news as it is published
- Official Ministry of Transportation info on road closures on Ontario highways
