Resident calling for safety improvements to HWY 144 intersection near Onaping

For decades, ChantelleGorham has felt nervous any time she enters an intersection on Highway 144, near Onaping Falls in Greater Sudbury.

Gorham grew up near the Marina Road intersection, and she still lives in the area now. Even as a child, she said she knew it was unsafe, and her own family had some close calls with large trucks.

"It's always been a corner that you knew to be leery of, as long as I can remember. So this issue doesn't go back years or decades, like it literally goes back generations from the time that it was put in," Gorham said.

Gorhamand other community members are calling on the ministry of transportation to make improvements to what they say is an unsafe intersection.

On Wednesday afternoon, Gorham will be leading a protest on the side of the highway, in the hopes of calling more attention to the community's concerns.

'I don't feel safe'

The intersection is at the bottom of a steep hill, which goes around a sharp bend. Just after the intersection before the hill there is a diagonal train crossing. Gorham said the blind corners, hidden intersection and diagonal train crossing create a "perfect storm of everything that really shouldn't happen in road construction."

While concerns have been on her mind for years, she said the last year and a half has been particularly alarming because ofthe number of accidents at the intersection especially those involving large trucks. Gorham said she is aware of at least six accidents in 2020, which she learned about from a mix of police reports, news stories, and photos taken by neighbours.

Gorham believes it's just a matter of time before there will be a fatality.

"Luck has been on our side but it's going to run out," she said.

Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas agrees. She said she wrote to the minister of transportation in June 2020, asking the ministry to look at the intersection.

"I'm no expert but I know that I don't feel safe when I go around it," Gelinas said.

The ministry did complete an operational review, and late last year additional warning signs and pavement markings were added. But Gelinas and Gorham both agree, those measures don't seem to have made enough of a difference.

"The changes were made, but itdoesn't seem to work. We have new signage at the side, we have new pavement marking at the side, but we still had an accident last week," Gelinas said.

Gelinas said in the short term, she thinks flashing lights might help.

Ministry to continue to monitor intersection

Gorham, meanwhile,is hoping for more than just lights. She said she has also been in touch with the ministry of transportation for more than a year. At first she asked for rumble strips and lights to be added, but given that there have since been more accidents in the past year, she said she would like to see a complete redesign of the intersection.

The ministry of transportation declined CBC's request for an interview. In a statement, the ministry saidits collision records received from the OPP indicate there have been two collisions at the intersection since the additional signs and road markings were completed in late December, until the end of July.

The ministry saidit will continue to "monitor the area to evaluate the effectiveness" of those improvements and will make further changes as needed.