Community calls for safety measures after pedestrian death on Highway 59

The fatal hit-and-run of a 75-year-old man in Brokenhead Ojibway Nation has prompted calls for better safety measures along a stretch of Highway 59 that runs through the community.

The First Nation says Larry Hodge was walking beside the highway while on his way to work when he was hit last Thursday evening. He died at the scene of the accident.

RCMP say Hodge was walking northbound on the right-hand side shoulder of the highway when he was struck from behind. The driver fled the scene

"My uncle didn't deserve this," said Lana Starr, Hodge's niece, at a news conference about the collision.

"Something needs to be done for our people. This time it was him, but next time it could be one of our children. It's not OK."

Several community members, including youth who had gathered in a nearby schoolyard for a Winnipeg Jets playoff game event, witnessed the collision, said Brokenhead Ojibway Nation chief Gord Bluesky.

Bluesky said the community has been asking for better safety measures along that stretch of highway for years, as Hodge is the latest in a long list of people from the First Nation who have been killed or seriously injured.

He wants the province to lower the speed limit there from 80 km/h to 50 km/h, widen the shoulder lane,install proper illumination and set up safe crossing pointsto prevent tragedies like this from happening.

"It''s just unfortunate that we're in a situation now where we're talking about his sudden passing because of things that we feel should be made available to our community in the first place."

Old wounds

The hit-and-run brought up old wounds for other community members who'd also been injured or lost loved ones in collisions on Highway 59.

It's been more than 50 years since Hazel Kent's parents were killed in a collision on Highway 59, but the pain doesn't go away.

"When you hear the sirens, your body comes so alert," she said.

"It all brings it back again. You wonder where the kids are. You wonder who's on the highway, you wonder who it's for."

Taylor Kent was 14 when the vehicle she was in was struck by a drunk driver near the South Beach Casino.

"I know what it is to wake up on that highway. I know what it is to feel the bite of the gravel and the asphalt under my cheek, not knowing if you will live or die," she said.

"I'm tired of my community suffering. I'm tired of our families suffering, and I wish the government would hear us and see us and take our calls seriously."

Asked about the hit-and-run collision in question period, Manitoba's transportation minister Doyle Piwniuk said the province will work with the First Nation to come up with long-term solutions for that stretch of highway.

For now, he said the province has installed temporary speed reduction signs.