401 barrier advocates want concrete commitment from NDP

While in Leamington, Ont. ona campaign stop Wednesday, NDP party leader Andrea Horwath made a commitment to fixing roads in the province and working with local experts to make them safer.

But Highway 401 barrier advocates say the NDP platform is vague, and they'd like a bigger commitment from the party.

"I was happy to hear that it's on her radar ... we're just a little concerned she needs a little more information thanshe has right now," saidAlyssonStorey, founder of advocacy group Build a Barrier. Storey also recently threw her name into the race to be Chatham-Kent's mayor inOctober's municipal election.

Storey'sfriendSarah Payne and herfive-year-old daughter,Freya Payne, of London, were killed in a crossover collision on the highway in 2017. Storey is now leading a group that wants concrete barriers placed along the section of Highway 401 that runs between London andTilbury.

"Right now if you look at the platform for theNDP,it's actually incorrect which makes me a little worried that no one hasreviewed that piece of it because no one has talked to us,"

According to the party's website, the NDP plan to "keep drivers safe and business moving by building much needed highway barriers on the 401 between Windsor and London," a section of the road commonly referred to as "Carnage Alley" due to the number of fatal accidents that have occurred there.

But Storey points out that concrete median barriershave been in placebetween Windsor and Chatham-Kent for several years.

"Not only will we be twinning Highway 3 but we're alsogoingto continue looking at the challenges that exist and the voices in southwestern Ontario that are continuing to beconcernedwith the condition ofthe401and the needs of the 401 in terms of barrier improvements all the wayfromWindsor to London,"Horwathsaid at her stop inLeamington, adding that she'll work with communities "who are experts of what's happening on their roadways."

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation has committed to building a concrete median barrier along Highway 401 in Chatham-Kent and Elgin County, and had promised to installhigh-tension cable barriersin the meantime.

Storey said that Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford had also committed to building the barrier, but not in writing.

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