I feel for the families in theses situations but why must governments be held accountable for the poor judgement and lack of skill by the driving public.
Grieving dad wants canal road solution
Tows daughter's SUV to Queen's Park
Says guardrails needed on perilous road
Mar. 30, 2006. 04:46 AM
ROB FERGUSON
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU
Two toy cars lie abandoned in the battered SUV that carried 4-year-old Taylor Grasby and his mom to their deaths in a frigid Holland Marsh canal two months ago.
Concerned that local and provincial politicians haven't made the canal road safe enough, a grieving Tim Read took the unusual step of towing the Toyota 4Runner to Queen's Park yesterday to make his point.
"There's been too many deaths and nobody wants to do anything about it," said Read, whose daughter, Cassandra Read, 32, and grandson, Taylor, were killed when their vehicle slid off the road and into the canal.
To prevent future tragedies, Read wants guardrails along Canal Road, or its closure to all but farmers.
The heart-rending stunt yesterday earned him a quick meeting and a promise of help from Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar, who visited the accident scene a day after the tragedy and offered Simcoe County concrete barriers to line the perilous road.
So far, the county has lowered the speed limit to 50 km/h from 60 km/h and posted warning signs, among other measures.
That's not enough for Read.
"One of these days a whole carload or a school bus is going to go in," warned the auto-body mechanic from Keswick. "I'm still mad ... they don't take a human life seriously."
About 2,500 vehicles use the road daily, according to a recent study, which also recommended closing the road during morning and afternoon rush hours and putting barriers along the canal side of the road. Those barriers are estimated to cost $4 million.
The Star reported recently that another two cars have gone into the canal since the accident, including one driven by a pregnant woman who was fortunate the ice kept her vehicle from sinking.
Read's only daughter and grandson are among 19 people who have died in the Holland Marsh canals in the past 52 years, with 14 vehicles sliding into the depths in the past five years.
The Canal Road, a popular shortcut from Highway 400 to Highway 11, is narrow and winding with a thin shoulder that leaves no margin for error, particularly on snowy, slippery winter nights like Feb. 4.
That's when Cassandra and son slid off the road in the Toyota as she talked on her cellphone to a friend, who alerted police.
By the time rescuers arrived, put a boat in the water, located the vehicle and smashed the back window, the pair had drowned.
Read said he felt "a little bit better" after the meeting with Takhar, but noted there are no solutions yet.
There are, however, plans for the ministry and local officials to hold a public information session in the Holland Marsh area in May to discuss how best to make Canal Road safer, including the possibility of closing the road.
There is also a police crackdown on speeders.
A longer-term solution, which has already been studied widely, is dredging an $18 million irrigation canal and separating it from the roadway with a much wider swath of earth, said local MPP Julia Munro of York North.
Read said money shouldn't be an obstacle to solutions because the county received $8 million in last week's budget for improved transportation infrastructure.