Hwy 62 re-opened; fatality investigation continues
Administrator | Sep 23, 2018 | Comments 8
UPDATE: – Highway 62 re-opened late Sunday night and Prince Edward OPP officers are continuing their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision around the noon hour involving a cyclist and a motorist.
Cst. Kim Guthrie reports family members of the cyclist have been notified and no further details will be released with regards to their identity.
The cyclist did not survive the collision. The driver of the motor vehicle was not injured.
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Highway 62 remains closed as Prince Edward County OPP investigate a fatal collision involving a cyclist and a motorist.
The accident occurred near the intersection of Hwy 62 and Union Road in Ameliasburgh. Traffic is being re-routed at Valley Road and County Road 2.
The cyclist did not survive the collision.
Filed Under: Local News
If the bike, pedestrian protected area was added to the bridge, how would one bicycle safely on Cty. Rd. 49 to get there to use it?
Our relationship with government needs to be redefined if we are ever to move ahead, in order to heal this County and Country. Colonial thinking is deeply entrenched here, and it forces us into a submissive mindset, [feudal thinking] that empowers governments to have their way with us, and our families, for better or worse. We make ourselves victims of bad governance when we fail to stand up for our families and our rights.
Those of us who understand that we own government, and not the other way around, are willing to stand up to bad governance to protect our families but we cannot do it alone. County government has failed to protect us, and so we have to take that fight all the way to the source of unsafe, bad governance, Queens Park. We should not tolerate indifferent government that knowingly puts our families in harm’s way on badly managed roads and bridges controlled by the MTO. The MTO squanders many millions on mammoth projects that other cities like Belleville don’t need and don’t want. The additional money required “to make safe” the Skyway Bridge could be levied from tourist users, but more appropriately from the increasing volume of heavy commercial and industrial carriers. These huge vehicles damage our roads and bridges, and should be forced to pay a user fee. These fees are tax deductible as operating expenses.
Todd Smith has refused to protect us on the Skyway Bridge, claiming that he only got one email from a bridge walker. You can’t protect families with a smile and a glad hand; it takes a well developed conscience and strong ethical courage to face down bad government, and stand up for family safety. The PCs refuse to protect our families, but waste no time trying to take away our Charter rights and freedoms, which include the civic right to criticize bad governance that impacts our lives.
I don’t know how many times it has been explained that a tourist tax can “only” be used for the promotion of tourism in the municipality. Further, businesses have the burden of collecting with HST and submitting the funds.
The municipality can collect tourist tax and use it as it sees fit – and they can install reflectors on the municipal roads at these intersections and can lobby the province to help make them safer and help with the funding to make their roads safer. All this can’t do this and can’t do that gets us nowhere
The County cannot install anything on a provincial highway. And a tourist tax cannot go towards infrastructure.
I have in the past contacted our councillors and mayor about the entrance from Cty. Rd.14 onto 62 – it is an accident waiting to happen(particularly at night) – as Union Rd. and 62 still is. The number of intersections here in PEC with “High Collision” warning signs tells the story. This is a classic example of attracting people to the area, but our infrastructure is not keeping pace. Not wanting a tourist tax because it might interfere with business is nonsense – we could use that money to help save lives. Using the excuse of 62 being a provincial responsibility is just that – our municipality could still install reflectors to highlight these intersections on 62 – waiting for the MTO is as slow as watching paint dry. How much would it cost for reflectors – and how many lives would they save? Worth looking into.
This looks like another unfortunate, and preventable cycling fatality in Quinte. This election issue has been buried under various housekeeping issues, but it needs to be vigorously promoted because road safety is family safety. I’ve been ‘blowing the whistle’ on unsafe MTO road regs and bridge risks for over a year, with little or no engagement by an indifferent local government, press, and OPP.
The problem of shared roadways gets much worse on narrow bridges like the Skyway Bridge, which become pinch points, with no protection for cyclists and pedestrians. The bridge redo will be more dangerous, with a wide open surface, raising the risks for everyone. To save a few bucks, the MTO refuses to build us a bridge that is safe for all travelers, yet it refuses to do its diligence by banning cyclists and walkers from the bridge. Traveling at highway speeds makes it difficult to judge one meter from car to cyclist. People in this County need to stand up and protect themselves against road and bridge risks because our governments just don’t care, and 4000 pedestrian hits a year, and 100 fatalities proves it.
Why the hell do they allow cyclists and joggers to travel along hwy 62 anyway? It may not be the 401 but it’s still a HIGHWAY!!