Cape Breton fire chiefs say Highway 125 ruts are treacherous

Volunteer fire chiefs whose members are first responders to accident scenes on Highway 125 in Cape Breton are blaming ruts in the asphalt for two bad accidents in the last week, one of them fatal.

The roadconnects the Trans-Canada Highwayat North Sydney to Grand Lake Roadin Sydney, with exits to several rural communities along its length.

A 79-year-old man from North River was killed Monday when his truck went off the road and into aditch.

Eyewitnesses said the truck appeared tohydroplanein heavy rain which had collected in the grooves inthe pavement. The truckflipped several times before coming to rest.

The ruts are about a car-width apartand in some places anearlier layer of asphalt is exposed.

Mira Road fire chief Brent Boyle said he's responded to many crashes on Highway 125 in which the ruts were implicated.

Even worse in the rain

"Once a vehicle gets in those,and that's firetrucks included or any heavy vehicles,you can't get out of them," he said. "It seems like they pull your vehicle and at the high rates of speed on the 125100 km/h, 110once the vehicle gets in those, it's basically unable to pull them out."

Boyle said it's even worse in the rain.

"When the water comes off of the hills on the 125,you basically have no control of your vehicle."

Frenchvale fire chief Mark Voutier concurs. He responded to Monday's fatal crash in the downpour.

"The rain had come down pretty fast," he remembered. "I was hydroplaning myself to that accident. My vehicle hydroplaned probably half a dozen times."

Last week, a woman suffered broken bones in her neck when hercar hydroplaned in the same area of the highway. Her car was a write-off.

Repair work expected soon

There has never been an adequate explanation for the ruts.Some people blame the weight of coal trucks, others the studs on winter tires, even the way theasphalt is mixed together.

Whatever the cause, Transportation Department construction manager Paul Coltonsays a fix is in the works.

"We're working on approvals and hopefully we'll be able to get some repair work out very soon," he said.

Voutier isglad to hear it, but hethinks the situation calls for more immediate action.

He wants warning signs posted on either side of the highway, warning of the ruts and the possibility of hydroplaning when it rains.