On a busy one-lane link to Highway 417, improvements have stopped because the number of trucks is going up
Last February, there was a close call that made Caroline Guimond fight for a better Highway 138.
The Maxville resident was in a line of cars behind a school bus on a route that her children take when an impatient driver cut her off.
They sped past the bus and just missed a driver going the other way.
“I told him, “You know what?” On this road, a very bad accident will happen at some point, “Guimond used the highway almost every day before she got a new job. “Something needs to be done about this.”
Guimond soon started an online petition asking the Ontario government to make the busy single-lane highway between Highway 417 and Cornwall in eastern Ontario safer.
More than 1,000 people signed the petition, and she was happy when Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) chose 2023 as the year for major infrastructure work.
Now, though, the MTO has put off a big road resurfacing project until 2024.
Guimond said, “It’s been clear from the beginning that the Ministry of Transportation has no plans to improve this road.” “Therefore, I’m not surprised.”
Several people have died in recent year
Over the past 10 years, there have been a number of fatal crashes on the 36-kilometer highway:
- In January 2016, a 30-year-old man died when he hit a power pole near Moose Creek.
- In May 2017, north of Willy Allan Road, Azizullah Assadzada, who was 27 years old and from Ottawa, died in a head-on crash with a transport truck.
- Adriana Chrétien, a 27-year-old teacher in Embrun, died in a two-car crash north of Cornwall in February 2020. The other driver, a woman from Montreal who was 22 years old, had serious injuries, and two of her passengers were also taken to the hospital.
- Last April, an 88-year-old man from Embrun was killed when he hit a transport truck head-on near Gravel Hill Road.
Statistics from the MTO show that there were 44 accidents on Highway 138 last year. In the first two years of the pandemic, 2020 and 2021, there were fewer collisions, but they were still in the double digits. For 2023, the ministry said it did not have any information yet.
Guimond said, “There are no safe places for drivers to pass transports or other slow-moving vehicles.” “The drivers are very rude… Even if there are cars in the other lane, they will pass you.”
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
- The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
- The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.
The MTO was supposed to fix up a 17.4-kilometer stretch of the highway in 2023. They were also supposed to fix up intersections, replace culverts, and do a few other projects.