THUNDER BAY -- On the heels of a serious collision this week on Highway 102/Dawson Road, an area homeowner says she doesn't blame the transport truck driver involved in the incident, but she does blame the road.
Julee Boan lives near the Highway 102/Intola Road intersection where a tractor-trailer collided with a pickup truck late Tuesday afternoon.
The driver of the pickup suffered what the OPP described as serious injuries, while the transport driver received non-life-threatening injuries but had to be extricated from the cab by firefighters.
The tractor-trailer left the road and overturned, ending up partially on Boan's property.
In an interview with tbnewswatch.com, she said that when she heard about the collision, her thoughts turned to the individuals involved.
"We were worried about the condition of the people who were in the accident. We've seen a number of accidents over the years, and once in awhile there are fatalities on the road," Boan said.
She said the road near her home presents challenges to truckers.
"There's a hill near our property that transports need to drive up, and we hear them. They often need to pick up speed in order to get up that hill. It's especially the case when the weather conditions are bad and the roads are slippery."
Boan said the situation is compounded by the fact "you can't see when you're coming around the corner, so that if there is something obstructing the lane, any driver would have very little time to respond to that."
According to the OPP, Tuesday's collision happened when the pickup truck proceeded off Intola Road and onto the highway.
Boan said her understanding is that the transport driver "did what he had to do and he veered off the road."
The City of Thunder Bay has proposed banning heavy trucks from Dawson Road, where an estimated 1000 tractor-trailers currently travel daily. The move would divert them to the Thunder Bay Expressway and Highway 11/17.
Boan feels that while there is "no ideal solution" for moving 1700 trucks past Thunder Bay every day, it makes more sense to designate 11/17 for them.
She said she doesn't believe there are any residential homes on 11/17 between the city limit and the Harbour Expressway intersection, but on Dawson Road within the city limit "there are hundreds of driveways, and cars that are commuting every day. There are also many subdivisions and neighbourhoods off of Dawson, and those cars are also coming onto Dawson every day to travel into work."
Boan said millions of dollars were spent building the newest section of 11/17 westerly from the Harbour Expressway intersection "and the intention of that highway was to create a safer route for this kind of traffic. It's very safe. It's just designed better to handle that."
