Community calls for increased police presence, safer roads after fatal collision near Confederation Bridge

In the aftermath of a fatal crash in Strait Shores, the community’s mayor said the stretch of road it happened on is an “absolute danger” that requires increased police presence, and better safety measures.

“It’s not the first time there’s been fatalities there,” Annamarie Boyd said Wednesday, the day after two paramedics and a patient in their care died in a collision between an ambulance and a transport truck on Route 16

“Maybe they have to put a few more resources in this area just to ensure there is some RCMP… watching this traffic and watching the speeds.”

WATCH | Mayor calls for increased police presence after fatal crash near Confederation Bridge::

Residents call attention to dangerous road after 3 die in collision

Strait Shores residents say drivers on Route 16 in southeast New Brunswick often travel over the speed limit, pass unsafely or don’t pay attention.

Locals have, for years, pointed to a need for dedicated passing lanes or safer division of the two-lane highway, Boyd said.

“This is an area of concern,” she said. “There’s a cloud over Strait Shores and it extends all the way over to P.E.I.”

CBC News has confirmed that a 56-year-old man named Michael Mackenzie was one of the paramedics who died in the crash. CBC News is not naming the 23-year-old paramedic at this time at the request of her family.

CBC hasn’t been able to confirm the name of the 77-year-old patient who died.

The section of the Trans-Canada highway before the Confederation Bridge in Melrose, N.B. is the main throughway for transport trucks and other traffic to and from P.E.I.

Boyd said locals typically avoid the route because many speed, or pass illegally on the two-lane highway that’s also frequented by crossing moose.

Mayor of Strait Shores, Annamarie Boyd, says most of the calls the local fire department responds to are motor vehicle accidents, including a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway she says it’s dangerous. (Victoria Walton/CBC News)

Two years ago, a head-on collision involving a minivan and a pickup truck killed two people from Charlottetown on the same stretch of that highway.

It’s also frequently used by the island’s ambulance vehicles who transport patients to hospitals in New Brunswick.

RCMP said in an interview Wednesday that it could not comment on any perceived cause of the collision, and that police are working to figure out what exactly happened.

When asked about safety concerns brought by the community, spokesperson for Codiac Regional RCMP Cpl. Luc Picard said they can be addressed by officers who do patrol the area, if the public brings concerns to the municipality.

Cpl. Luc Picard said Wednesday RCMP and other partners who responded to the scene held a debrief after the crash, and that there are supports in place for first responders who were impacted. (Katelin Belliveau/CBC News)

‘We’re going to need lots of people here’

Bryant Howells was at his auto repair shop, BH Auto, near where the collision occurred on Route 16, when he heard brakes squeal and then a “bang, bang, bang.”

When he ran into his house and heard his own firefighter radio going off, he knew it was a crash. He jumped into his tow truck and got to the scene before most first responders, he said.

He knew right away it was serious.

“It was like, ‘Oh, we’re going to need lots of people here, lots of equipment because it was a big fire scene,'” he recalled Wednesday.

Bryant Howells, who is also a firefighter in Strait Shores, says he’s seen regular collisions on Route 16 due to illegal passing and speeding in the five years that he’s lived there. (Victoria Walton/CBC News)

When he saw the ambulance on the road, he said his first thought was that he may know the people involved.

“That stopped me for a second but then I had to do my job.”

He said, unfortunately, he was not surprised that another collision took place there.

“[There is] a lot of passing illegally, speeding, cell phones,” he said. “This is a deadly stretch of highway.”

Boyd, who is also the Emergency Measures Organization co-ordinator for the area, said she received a picture from her son of the scene Tuesday morning, which showed black smoke in the air.

Firefighters from stations in Strait Shores and near Cape Tormentine attended the scene, she said.

The collision eventually caused a grass fire, Boyd recalled, which meant the Department of Natural Resources added to a number of first responders already on scene to treat the victims and control the scene.

“A great abundance of emergency personnel had to all come on scene.”

The truck involved in the collision went off the road, and impacted a cell network tower, Boyd said.

The region lost connectivity as a result, which interfered with the mobile radios that first responders use.

“Even the fire department, trying to speak with each other, were having issues.”

It also impacted New Brunswickers who were trying to reach loved ones in the area to check if they were OK.

Boyd said while she hopes for more presence from RMCP, the solution to making the road a safer place lies in the hands of the Department of Transportation.

Radio-Canada reached out to the department for comment and for statistics about collisions on Route 16 but did not hear back by the time this story was published.

Boyd said she plans to invite RCMP to give a presentation and produce a report before council about the collision statistics in the area, and what can be done.

She said she understands resources are already stretched thin in rural places but thinks it’s needed.

“We pay for their service so we want to ensure that we’re getting that service.”

The stretch of Route 16 that was previously closed has since been reopened.