QUEEN'S PARK — Ontario Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney says road-clearing crews are working efficiently to keep northern highways clear of snow.
The issue of highway maintenance was raised in the legislature Tuesday by John Vanthof, the NDP MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane.
Vanthof said the simultaneous closure of Highways 11 and 17 north and east of Nipigon on Monday evening showed that the government is providing second-class treatment for drivers in the north.
"Highway 17 east of Nipigon was closed due to snow. Highway 11 between Nipigon and Cochrane was also closed, causing serious difficulties and delays to drivers trying to get home. People and freight were stranded," Vanthof said.
He said "northern Ontario was cut in half" because the government, he alleged, doesn't consider the north and the upkeep of its highways to be a priority.
Neither highway was reopened until the early hours of Tuesday morning, prompting Vanthof to charge that snowplows need to be sent out more frequently in these situations.
"If you can't get [the snow] off quickly enough, you do it more often," he said.
Mulroney, however, replied that highway maintenance in the north surpasses the minimum requirements for clearing the province's major Class One highways.
"Sections of Highway 11 and Highway 17 are already considered Class One highways....We already exceed the standard for Class One highways on other sections of Highways 11 and 17," she said.
According to Mulroney, the target for clearing a Class One highway to bare pavement is eight hours.
She said "We already do run more plows...because we take the safety of motorists on those [northern] highways very seriously."
"Unfortunately, when it snows, for safety concerns we sometimes have to close the highway...All necessary steps are taken to reopen them as quickly as possible," the minister said.
Vanthof told the legislature people in southern Ontario don't realize how much it costs the provincial and national economy when transport trucks are stuck on the highway due to a road closure in the north.
Mulroney said the economic impact of closures "is of great concern" to the government," adding "we want to make sure we get goods to market."
She said the government will continue to work toward improving highway maintenance "in the appropriate way."
