Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall
The MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex Monte McNaughton questioned the Ministry of Transportation about the possibility of widening Highway 40 between Chatham and Wallaceburg, and the readers of the Sydenham Current agree that this is a good idea.
Here are the results from a recent poll question we posted:
Should Hwy. 40 be ‘twinned’ between Wallaceburg & Chatham?
Yes 82.6% (280 votes)
No 17.4% (59 votes)
Total Votes: 339
McNaughton discussed some statistics released by the OPP about the stretch of road.
“In the past three years alone, according to the Chatham-Kent OPP detachment, there have been 142 vehicle collisions on this stretch of highway resulting in 27 cases of serious injury and four fatalities. I would suggest that these are unacceptably high numbers,” McNaughton said.
Here is our full story, which includes more comments from McNaughton: MPP vouching for Highway 40 twinning
Just last month, a Chatham man died following a crash between an ambulance and a van on Highway 40, just outside of Wallaceburg.
We’ve yet to see or hear a response from the Ministry of Transportation about McNaughton’s letter, but we will be watching closely.
While statistics are sometimes misleading on there own, it is hard to argue that these figures about Highway 40 are not alarming.
Widening the highway would undoubtedly be an expensive task, but with the prospect of making the roads safer and possibly savings some lives… it needs to be considered.
If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.
Photos of the day
Positivity Day was held across Chatham-Kent on Tuesday. Here are some photos from the day!
Weather forecast for Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Today – Cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. Risk of a thunderstorm this morning. Wind north 20 km/h. High 23. Humidex 26. UV index 5 or moderate.
Tonight – A few clouds. Wind northeast 20 km/h becoming light after midnight. Low 10.
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