Prescott Mayor hopeful new government will expand deadly stretch of Hwy 401

By Mike Vlasveld

The loss of life on Hwy 401 near Prescott is being described as “depressingly frequent.”

Those are words from Town of Prescott Mayor Brett Todd, who told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show he simply felt sad upon hearing the news of a bus crash which sent dozens of people to hospital Monday afternoon.

“There's a real human cost to this, and that's the sad part of it,” said Todd. “But [the message] does seems to be getting across.”

He said he had a conversation with the Liberal government last year about expanding the highway from four to six lanes in that stretch, and after six months, the Minister of Transport was brought in to work with the Safe Corridor Working Group. Together they looked at different initiatives to make the road safer, but Todd admits there was no substance to their final report.

“There are people who doubt the three lanes will have much of an impact [on making the road safer],” The mayor added. “I don't believe that's the case. Those three lanes, I look at it like a pressure valve. Because what we've got here with the traffic volumes now — they're simply growing too fast.”

The mayor said Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader Doug Ford has promised to widen the highway through Prescott, if elected. And Todd has been happy with support he's been getting from local MPP's on the issue.

He explained that he's just going to have to work with new government, and continue to press them on the need for expansion.

Listen to the full conversation with Town of Prescott Mayor Brett Todd:

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