NDP\u00a0MPP Guy\u00a0Bourgouin held a press conference at Queen\u2019s Park on Wednesday to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill\u00a0that will improve maintenance standards and\u00a0make winter driving safer on northern Ontario\u2019s main Highways 11 and 17.<\/p>\n
Bourgouin, MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay, was joined by representatives from northern communities and businesses who said improving winter road maintenance in Northern Ontario is urgently needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many Northern Ontarians have lost their lives, or suffered life-altering injuries driving on poorly-maintained routes in the winter,\u201d Bourgouin said.\u00a0\u201cWith this bill we can save lives in Northern Ontario by making our\u00a0highways\u00a0safer for drivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthern drivers and families have waited long enough.\u00a0They deserve nothing less than to know that their roads are safe during the long winter months.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPP Bourgouin\u2019s bill,\u00a0Making Northern Ontario Highways Safer, 2019<\/em>,\u00a0will ensure that Highways 11 and 17 are maintained with the province\u2019s strictest requirements for snow removal.\u00a0By classifying the northern highways the same as all 400 series highways and the QEW, snow must be removed within eight hours of the end of a snowfall.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Transportation\u2019s snow removal classification standards depend on the type of highway and traffic volumes, not on climate or vehicle size and weight.\u00a0Bourgouin\u2019s bill would\u00a0bump up Highways 11 and 17 to Class 1 in all of their sections, whether two or four-lane, and eliminate vehicular traffic specification.<\/p>\n Dave Plourde, mayor of Kapuskasing said he supports Bourgouin\u2019s bill to improve winter conditions on Highway 11, a lifeline of the community.\u00a0\u201cHighway 11 is the only access point for our community and recurrent winter closures have major consequences on the lives of residents in the Kapuskasing area. The municipal council will be thus voting on a resolution to support Mr. Bourgouin\u2019s bill on June 17.\u201d<\/p>\n Sue Dery, safety manager at Grant\u2019s Transport Ltd.\/GRW Transport Limited, said winter road conditions on the highways need to be improved.\u00a0A truck driver from the company was killed on Highway 11 during a snow storm.<\/p>\n \u201cNorthern Ontario\u2019s highways are filled with dangerous corners and hills.\u00a0Lots of truckers are retiring or not working during winter months because they are scared,\u201d said Dery.\u00a0\u201cWinter, coupled with driver\u00a0shortage, is taking a toll on the company\u2019s operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Mark Andrews, former OPP North East Region Traffic and Marine Unit commander, said northern Ontario\u2019s main routes need to be properly maintained to keep northern communities and the country connected.<\/p>\n \u201cThe classification and treatment of Highways 11 and 17\u00a0have\u00a0always concerned me, as both routes are integral for the Trans Canada corridor,\u201d said Andrews. \u201cThere are very\u00a0few\u00a0opportunities for detours on either of these routes. When these routes are not maintained and kept passable, the country is cut in half. Finally, the communities along these routes have only one way to access each other by\u00a0ground: these two highways.\u201d<\/p>\n Mario Villeneuve, president of Villeneuve Construction said the highways need to be properly maintained to keep traffic flowing.<\/p>\n “Highways are shut down more often than before,” said\u00a0Villeneuve. “Heavy-load traffic is increasingly using the Highway 11 corridor, which is causing inconveniences to communities and businesses.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Guy Bourgouin, d\u00e9put\u00e9 provincial n\u00e9o-d\u00e9mocrate, a tenu une conf\u00e9rence de presse \u00e0 Queen\u2019s Park aujourd’hui pour annoncer le d\u00e9p\u00f4t d\u2019un projet de loi d\u2019int\u00e9r\u00eat priv\u00e9 qui, une fois adopt\u00e9, am\u00e9liorerait la qualit\u00e9 de l\u2019entretien des routes et rendrait plus s\u00e9curitaire la conduite hivernale sur les routes 11 et 17, les\u00a0principales art\u00e8res de transport du Nord de l\u2019Ontario.<\/p>\n Lors de sa conf\u00e9rence de presse, M.\u00a0Bourgouin \u00e9tait accompagn\u00e9 de repr\u00e9sentant\u00b7e\u00b7s des communaut\u00e9s et des entreprises du Nord, qui ont signal\u00e9 que l\u2019am\u00e9lioration de l\u2019entretien hivernal de routes du Nord de l\u2019Ontario \u00e9tait une urgence absolue.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Trop de gens du Nord ont perdu leur vie, ou souffert des s\u00e9quelles permanentes \u00e0 la suite d\u2019accidents dont ils ont \u00e9t\u00e9 victimes en conduisant sur des routes mal entretenues pendant l\u2019hiver\u00a0\u00bb, a d\u00e9plor\u00e9 M.\u00a0Bourgouin. \u00ab\u00a0Avec ce projet de loi, on pourra sauver des vies au Nord de l\u2019Ontario en rendant nos routes plus s\u00e9curitaires pour les personnes qui les empruntent.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Les conducteurs et les conductrices du Nord, ainsi que leurs familles, n\u2019ont que trop attendu. Ils m\u00e9ritent de savoir que leurs routes seront s\u00e9curitaires pendant les longs mois d\u2019hiver. Rien de moins.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n Le projet de loi d\u00e9pos\u00e9 par M.\u00a0Bourgouin,\u00a0Loi de 2019 visant \u00e0 accro\u00eetre la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 des voies publiques dans le nord de l\u2019Ontario,\u00a0garantira que les routes 11 et 17 b\u00e9n\u00e9ficieront des exigences les plus rigoureuses de la province en mati\u00e8re de d\u00e9blayage et d\u2019entretien. En introduisant les routes du Nord dans une m\u00eame cat\u00e9gorie que les autoroutes s\u00e9rie-400 et l\u2019autoroute Queen-Elizabeth, il deviendra obligatoire de d\u00e9blayer la chauss\u00e9e dans les huit heures suivant une chute de neige.<\/p>\n La classification actuellement utilis\u00e9e par le Minist\u00e8re des Transports\u00a0\u2013\u00a0ayant un impact direct sur les exigences gouvernementales en mati\u00e8re de d\u00e9blayage hivernal\u00a0\u2013\u00a0d\u00e9pend du type de route et du volume du trafic\u00a0\u2013\u00a0non pas du climat, ni de la taille ou du poids des v\u00e9hicules. Le projet de loi d\u00e9pos\u00e9 par M.\u00a0Bourgouin classera les routes 11 et 17 dans une cat\u00e9gorie sup\u00e9rieure, dans chacun de leurs tron\u00e7ons \u2013 qu\u2019ils soient \u00e0 deux ou \u00e0 quatre voies \u2013, et \u00e9liminera la prise en compte des d\u00e9tails concernant le volume du trafic routier.<\/p>\n Le maire de Kapuskasing, Dave Plourde, appuie le projet de loi de Bourgouin visant \u00e0 am\u00e9liorer l\u2019entretien hivernal sur la route 11, ce qui est essentiel pour la communaut\u00e9. \u00ab\u00a0La route 11 est le seul point d\u2019acc\u00e8s pour notre communaut\u00e9. Les fermetures en hiver provoquent des retards qui ont des cons\u00e9quences majeures sur la vie des habitants de la r\u00e9gion de Kapuskasing. Le conseil municipale votera donc sur une r\u00e9solution d\u2019appui au projet de loi de M. Bourgouin le 17 juin\u00a0\u00bb.<\/p>\n Mme\u00a0Sue D\u00e9ry, responsable de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 chez G.R.W.\u00a0Transport, a soulign\u00e9 que les conditions routi\u00e8res hivernales devaient \u00eatre am\u00e9lior\u00e9es. Ladite compagnie a d\u00e9j\u00e0 perdu l\u2019un de ses camionneurs, d\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 lors d\u2019une temp\u00eate de neige sur la route 11.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Les routes du Nord de l\u2019Ontario sont pleines de courbes et de vallons dangereux. Beaucoup de camionneurs s\u2019imposent une retraite ou ne travaillent pas pendant les mois d\u2019hiver parce qu\u2019ils ont peur\u00a0\u00bb, a\u00a0dit Mme\u00a0D\u00e9ry. \u00ab\u00a0L\u2019hiver, joint \u00e0 la p\u00e9nurie de camionneurs, a un impact n\u00e9gatif sur le fonctionnement de la compagnie.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n Mark Andrews, ancien commandant de la Police provinciale de l\u2019Ontario \u2013 inspecteur de la s\u00e9curit\u00e9 routi\u00e8re et marine, r\u00e9gion du Nord-Est \u2013, a affirm\u00e9 que les routes principales du Nord de l\u2019Ontario devraient b\u00e9n\u00e9ficier d\u2019un entretien ad\u00e9quat, afin d\u2019assurer le contact entre les communaut\u00e9s du Nord et le reste du pays.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0La classification et le traitement des routes 11 et 17 m\u2019ont toujours pr\u00e9occup\u00e9, car les deux routes font partie int\u00e9grante du Corridor transcanadien\u00a0\u00bb, a pr\u00e9cis\u00e9 M.\u00a0Andrews. \u00ab\u00a0Il y a tr\u00e8s peu de possibilit\u00e9s de d\u00e9tours sur ces deux routes. Quand elles ne sont pas entretenues et que le trafic s\u2019y trouve interrompu, le\u00a0pays est coup\u00e9 en deux. Finalement, les communaut\u00e9s qui vivent le long de ces routes ont une seule fa\u00e7on de communiquer l\u2019une avec l\u2019autre par voie terrestre\u00a0: ces deux routes.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n Mario Villeneuve, pr\u00e9sident de Villeneuve Construction, a abond\u00e9 dans le m\u00eame sens, signalant que les routes devraient b\u00e9n\u00e9ficier d\u2019un entretien ad\u00e9quat afin d\u2019assurer la fluidit\u00e9 du trafic.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0Les routes sont ferm\u00e9es plus souvent que par le pass\u00e9\u00a0\u00bb, a dit M.\u00a0Villeneuve. \u00ab\u00a0Les v\u00e9hicules lourds utilisent de plus en plus le corridor offert par la route 11, ce qui occasionne des d\u00e9sagr\u00e9ments aux communaut\u00e9s ainsi qu\u2019aux entreprises.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NDP\u00a0MPP Guy\u00a0Bourgouin held a press conference at Queen\u2019s Park on Wednesday to introduce a Private Member\u2019s Bill\u00a0that will improve maintenance standards and\u00a0make winter driving safer on northern Ontario\u2019s main Highways 11 and 17. Bourgouin, MPP for Mushkegowuk-James Bay, was joined by representatives from northern communities and businesses who said improving winter road maintenance in Northern …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-northern-ontario","category-weather"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 20:48:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21945"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21952,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21945\/revisions\/21952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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