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Transportation Minister open to “reasonable solution” of Hwy 10 woes

November 18, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Years of advocating and complaining from local residents and politicians about the safety of Highway 10 north of Orangeville appears to have finally paid off after Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, Steven Del Duca, acknowledged public concern and promised to encourage the ministry’s staff to find a “reasonable solution” for the issues presented during a recent Question Period in the Legislature.

Bringing the concerns of the public forward to Mr. Del Duca on Oct. 27, Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones indicated it was about time the province came to the table to discuss potential upgrades for Highway 10.

“I have written to the Minister of Transportation six times over the past three years regarding the concerns of constituents and the Town of Mono about safety on Highway 10,” Jones said. “It’s certainly very encouraging that the Minister has agreed to discuss those concerns and I look forward to hopefully finding a solution over the coming months.”

The issue at hand, according to Ms. Jones, primarily relates to the lack of turning lanes on what is a “very busy” stretch of the highway. The Ministry of Transportation announced earlier this year that it intended to carry out some small improvements in the near future, but that only served to stoke the fires underneath local residents even further.

“This has been an ongoing issue for a number of years and I think the tipping point really came when the MTO made their announcement about the coming upgrades, because local residents understood if they moved forward in making those changes, it would be a long, long time before they came back again,” the MPP said. “For the most part, the message here is that while we appreciate your interest in that section of road, we’d like you to address some concerns we have relating to safety.”

That particular section of Highway 10, between Orangeville and Primrose, has become almost notorious such is the regularity in which vehicle collisions are reported to local police. Ms. Jones herself recalled a disturbing incident that she witnessed last January.

“I was turning south from Hockley Road and there had clearly been an accident just north on the highway. It was a beautiful day, perfectly sunny with no ice or snow in sight and still there was a pretty serious accident,” she said. “There are so many people traveling on that road and so many people in a rush to get where they’re going that I think it’s important (the MTO) look to include some turning lanes on the highway.”

While he made no promises in addressing her request during Question Period, Mr. Del Duca did say he’d be willing to meet with concerned residents and discuss the issues at hand. While no date has been set for the hearing, Ms. Jones told the Citizen it would likely take place in early December.

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