As many residents of Wellington County and southwestern Ontario are learning – and some re-learning – what old timers mean by an “old-fashioned Canadian winter,” some realities are quickly becoming evident.
One is that the road clearing capacity of local municipalities and the MTO is truly impressive. While roads in the region have often been closed during the historically-severe stretches of weather we’ve experienced this month, local crews seem to get them open almost as soon as the snow stops falling – a testament to the preparedness of area roads departments, particularly since it’s been a while since they experienced these kind of back-to-back storms. The results are even more impressive when you consider that it would be impossible to staff a municipal roads department sufficiently to provide continuous plowing services for as long as three days in some cases without travelling down the dangerous path of driver fatigue.
Equally impressive, for the most part, has been the capacity of government and media to provide early warning of impending storms and ongoing information throughout.
No doubt many a motorist has been able to avoid becoming stranded, or worse, in arctic conditions because of readily available information about road conditions.
That said, recent experience indicates there are a couple of areas where communication could be improved.
One is the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s practice of posting information about highway closings by listing the roads as closed using municipal streets as starting or end points. If Highway 6, for example, is closed from Fergus to Eliza Street, that information is less helpful to someone not familiar with the layout of Arthur. Eliza Street could be further up Highway 6, in Durham or Owen Sound for all many people would know. The problem was aptly illustrated on an area radio station Monday morning, as announcers advised listeners that Highway 8 was closed from Goderich to a specific street. Unfortunately, several municipalities along the highway between Goderich and Stratford have a street with that specific name, making it impossible for the station to provide information on how far down the line the road closure extended.
The MTO simply needs to provide the name of the communities a given road is closed between, and nothing else, to make things clearer.
Closer to home, Wellington County should consider posting conditions and closure information about county-maintained roads on a website. Most neighbouring counties, notably Bruce, Grey and Dufferin, provide such information, which isn’t readily available anywhere else online. While actual closures directed by the OPP do find their way onto media websites, there isn’t a consolidated online source of information for Wellington residents, and those planning to travel through the county, to consult.
On the other hand, Wellington County does offer a service provided by no other area municipalities, a telephone number to call (1-866-799-4166) and reach an actual person who is knowledgeable about local road conditions and capable of providing alternate routes to travellers if necessary. This service is invaluable and should be maintained. However, in the year 2014, most travellers seek up-to-date information online first and it would be safer to avoid any possible gaps in the information chain.
