Kingston mayor seeks extra lanes, other measures following Highway 401 crashes

The mayor of Kingston has called on the province to invest in extra lanes and other safety measures to improve conditions on the busy Highway 401 in Eastern Ontario.

Bryan Paterson said physical improvements to the highway, such as the addition of a third lane in both directions, improved interchanges and more electronic road signs alerting drivers to poor weather or driving conditions would help.

In April, Kingston city council called on the ministries of transportation and environment to “consider additional safety measures, including prohibition” for vehicles carrying hazardous materials when the weather turns nasty.

The motion is the latest in a series of municipal complaints to the province following major crashes on the busy corridor.

“For Kingston, the fact that we are the regional centre means that, yes, if there are major accidents that often brings us into the equation, even if the accident is further up or down the highway,” Paterson said.

Last week, Prescott council — whose mayor, Brett Todd, has called traffic on Highway 401 a “blood sport” — also called on the provincial government to widen Highway 401 to six lanes through southeastern Ontario.

That request followed a crash that killed two people on the highway late last month near the Highway 416 interchange.

In its call for widening the highway, Prescott council endorsed a proposed motion written by four Conservative MPPs from Eastern Ontario.

The MPPs’ motion stated there have been a dozen fatal crashes on the stretch of the 401 between Cornwall and Trenton since May. Those crashes have killed 16 people and injured 18 others.

The motion urges the government to put a six-lane expansion plan into its Southern Highways Program.

Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, at a meeting  this month in Kingston, said the province would add changeable message signs along the highway from Port Hope to the Quebec border to warn drivers of forecasts of bad weather.

In an email to the Brockville Recorder and Times, MTO spokesperson Brandy Duhaime wrote that the consultation process will continue.

“Meetings will continue throughout the winter as we continue to share information and ideas to develop our next steps,” she wrote.

• Highway 401
• Traffic