"I don't want to stand on the blood of our residents and say I'm sorry."
St. François Xavier Reeve Delmer Nott is speaking about the intersection at the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 26. He notes it's treacherous.
Nott explains that during Grantown's 200th anniversary, among the hundreds who celebrated with the community, visitors expressed concerns over something the residents are all too familiar with. They asked how nobody had been killed yet among those travelling from Portage to the town.
"A lot of people from Portage were attending, and they experienced it firsthand. The problem is we're trying to cross this highway. People come to us regularly asking how nobody gets killed here. It's not unusual for our council to hear that from visitors or people coming to our municipal office. It's a common concern. It's been identified as an issue. We've raised it with both levels of government, but so far, nothing has been done to resolve the issue and make this intersection safe for our people."
He says motorists face a problem when dealing with two sets of east and westbound lanes at posted speeds of 110 km/h.
"We have traffic that runs anywhere from 90 to 120. Let's face it, that's the variation. We have to cross that highway in between those two flows of traffic moving at those speeds. We have to get between those two and stop on a dime. Somehow, we then have to merge into traffic that's going 110 to 120 km/h. It could be semis, cars, a busload of seniors, a tour bus, or a school bus—anything. That's the space we have to stop in."
Nott notes that there’s a turning lane for those coming from the east onto Highway 26, but that makes things worse. He says it allows three sets of vehicles to face each other, and vision is obscured by the lights of those turning.
"It's the same when you're looking west; it depends on the time of day. There could be three vehicles. At night, you’d see three sets of lights coming—one might branch off eventually. But as you're looking, you have three sets of headlights, and they could be going anywhere from 90 to 120. So you have to judge how fast you need to cross, how hard you need to brake to stop on a dime, and then how to merge in front of semis going 110. From there, you're still in the fast lane, so you’ve got to figure out how to get into the slower right-hand lane and join that flow of traffic."
Nott says it’s a mess. He looked out at the sunny day during our interview near the intersection and said he doesn't want to stand on the blood of residents and apologize after something tragic happens.
Councillor Jim Proulx notes they've had accidents at that corner every year.
"Whether it’s semis jackknifing or minor car collisions, luckily, we haven’t had any fatalities yet. I can't speak to specific numbers; our fire department and emergency response team could. Near misses just mean it’s going to happen sooner or later. We don't want to be standing there laying a wreath and talking about people who passed away due to a horrible accident. We want to be proactive."
He explains that the situation at Elie, for example, has the same kind of highway traffic they do. People are crossing through town on the East-West highway, but they have traffic lights in place.
"Whether that's the solution here or not, we need something before something horrible happens."
Councillor Marcel Houde says the issue is personal for him, as his three children—young drivers—have been learning to drive over the past ten years.
"My biggest concern at the intersection is the inexperience of young drivers having to make quick decisions with traffic coming at 120 km/h from both directions. There's no real space between the highways," says Houde. "When you're inexperienced, snap decisions like that are hard to make. Whether it was my kids, their friends, girlfriends, or boyfriends coming over, we were really worried. We’d tell them, 'Avoid this intersection. Take the service road. Go a mile down—at least a mile east—so you can get between the highways.'"
He says a large staging area exists eastward, allowing drivers to pause and consider the traffic coming from the west instead of making the crossing in one shot.
"For young, inexperienced drivers—or anyone inexperienced—it’s a difficult intersection to navigate."
As for suggestions from the council, Nott says one option could be lowering the speed limit in that area as motorists approach the bridge.
"Bring it down to a more reasonable level, maybe 90 or 80. Maybe put up a red blinking light, saying, 'Dangerous crossing ahead' or 'Intersection ahead,' to warn drivers on the highway that something’s coming up—not just for those trying to cross, but for the drivers on the highway so they’re aware of the dangers."
Nott says another suggestion is to install traffic lights, similar to those in Elie, which control the flow of traffic.
"Once it’s slowed down, it’s easier to control. Another idea would be going a mile east of here and looking at that as an alternative location where we could add merging lanes. The staging area is much wider there, so it would make more sense. If you wanted to turn and go east, you could have a longer staging lane. The same applies to traffic coming from the east going west; a longer staging or turning area could be built."
He adds that this would remove much of the risk, giving people a chance to get between the eastbound and westbound traffic safely and take a moment to breathe.
"You can't breathe here. I’m sorry, but you can't. You're holding your breath."