It’s been over a week since two separate incidents saw vehicles launch over the guardrail of the Kitchener flyover, with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) now providing the latest updates as similar incidents continue to be seen across southern Ontario.
The incidents in Kitchener happened on the same day, within hours of each other, on Jan. 26.
The two vehicles are said to have lost control, drifted onto the “ramp-like” snow-covered shoulder, before flying over the guardrail and plummeting to the highway below.
The second crash led to the death of a Waterloo woman who was behind the wheel.
In the week that followed, similar incidents were seen on the QEW in Niagara as well as Highway 427 in the GTA. No one was killed in either of those two collisions.
“Those continue to be under investigation. Obviously, the ramps have all been cleaned and cleared by the road maintenance contractors through the MTO,” said OPP Sergeant Kerry Schmidt. “The OPP work collaboratively with them all the time as well.”
It means that the total number of dangerous guardrail crashes has grown to four in a single week, making it a busy time for OPP, who said they’ve seen driver error play a part in each of those incidents.
“The collisions themselves do point towards driver error in all situations, where the drivers ended up losing control on a road that was being travelled by the motoring public in these four instances,” Schmidt said.
At the time of the crashes in Kitchener, Schmidt stated that,” The roads were in good shape, obviously snow on the shoulders, but the highways themselves had been plowed, had been salted, and traffic had been getting through there throughout the weekend.”
A crash Jan. 30 on the ramp from the Fort Erie–bound QEW to Highway 420. (OPP Highway Safety Division/X)
It’s led OPP to remind drivers to travel according to the wintery conditions, asking people to slow down and drive with both caution and attention when the weather calls for it.
“It’s something that we’re certainly keeping an eye on and, really, it’s the MTO and the road maintenance contractors who are the ones doing the snow plowing, snow clearing, and the snow removal when the snow piles up in areas where it needs to be removed.”
It all comes as Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) said it’s needed to respond to more collisions across the region already this winter than it had all of last season.
The investigations through OPP remain ongoing, with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) also “reviewing winter maintenance operations” from the time of the crashes.
570 NewsRadio has reached out to the MTO for an update on its efforts, along with ongoing snow-clearing efforts, but after multiple attempts, no response has been given.
