The provincial NDP is pushing to have Highways 11 and 17 cleared more often in the winter

The provincial NDP is pushing to make it law that highways 11 and 17 be cleared more often in the winter.

Mushkegowuk-James Bay MPP Guy Bourgouin reintroduced the bill to have the highways reclassified. The reclassification would mean the highways would be cleared within eight hours of a snowfall. The bill would classify northern highways in the same cateogoryas all 400 series highways that have the strictest snow removal requirements.

"Northerners have been waiting long enough. Doug Ford should have acted on my bill two years ago to clear our highways during the winter and make it safer for northern families," says Bourgouin.

Mark Andrews is the former traffic inspector for the OPP in the northeast. Andrews says this isn't a partisan issue. He says the impact onhuman life and the economy is too greatto treat these highways as simple, secondary two lane highways.

"In simple terms, one human life, one transport full of livestock being euthanized because the livestock were on the truck too long. One ambulance delayed, one medical appointment missed, one missed delivery of goods and services is too many," says Andrews.

Mario Villeneuve says the importance of these northern highways can not be overlooked.

Villeneuve is with the Ontario Road Builders Association. He says Highway 17 is very busy for tourism and Highway 11 is also busy as a priority trucking route to several northern communities and west of the province.

"The road conditions, especially during winter, are clearly being neglected...We all know the North is fueling the south and with all the economic development coming up in the north, with many mines, mines in White River and mines in Geraldton, mines inWawaand Dubreuilville.

The Ministry of Transportation's snow removal classification standards depend on the type of highway and traffic volumes, not on climate or vehicle size and weight. Bourgouin's bill would bump up Highways 11 and 17 to Class 1 in all of their sections, whether two or four-lane, and eliminate vehicular traffic specification.