Latest Hwy. 50 accidents highlight public’s lingering safety concerns

Two fatal accidents along a stretch of Highway 50 in the last two weeks have cast some doubt for local drivers as to whether the new road is any safer than the neighbouring Highway 148.

The new highway is constructed as a 2+1 road, consisting of two lanes in one direction and one lane in the other, which alternate every few kilometers. This type of road has been used in Denmark and Sweden since the 1990s, with some employing steel cable barriers to separate the opposing lanes.

While 2+1 roads are relatively rare outside of Europe, Quebec's use of the method on Highway 50 is not unique to the region. In Ontario, the westbound portion of Highway 417 is reduced to a single lane for about two kilometres, east of Arnprior, before the end of the divided highway.

When The Review reported on the construction of Highway 50 last March, residents from as far away as Ottawa shared their concerns about its undivided, three-lane arrangement.

"While I greatly appreciate the improved highway conditions that the Highway 50 extension between Buckingham and Thurso now offers on my trips to and from my cottage in the Petite Nation region of western Quebec, I cannot quite understand why it was not continued as a proper divided highway," wrote J.D. Cotnam, an Ottawa resident. "Despite the attempt to facilitate traffic volume with passing lanes, that section is bound to be even more of a bottleneck than it now is, once the connection through to Lachute is completed."

Following a violent collision that claimed the life of an 18-year-old woman last week, The Review polled readers on whether they preferred the new Highway 50 or its older, two-lane predecessor, Highway 148.

Responses were varied, with most acknowledging the risk - and some, the lack of scenery - of traveling the new highway but choosing it as a safer alternative to Highway 148.

"I prefer the 50," stated Joey Liutkus. "The summer before the Lachute to Grenville section opened, there were three serious accidents (on Highway 148) in the St-Philippe area. I travel from Grenville to Highway 15 five days a week, and the dangerous maneuvers people do on (Highway 50) are unbelievable.

"I can't believe it's an autoroute, the same classification as a 400-series highway (in Ontario); it has oncoming traffic with no median, two level crossings, and a stretch that is not a limited access highway, where cars and trucks make left turns in front of oncoming traffic. Unfortunately the 148/158 to St-Jerome is worse."

Colleen O'Brien agreed, noting a trip to Lachute along Highway 148 was "horrible" last week: "Considering the 148 has been poorly cared for in the past few weeks, I will say the 50. The trip on 148 to Lachute today for example was horrible. Zero salt or sand, and plenty of snow coverage."

A spokesperson for the Ministère des Transports du Québec (MTQ) said the current design meets the circulation and safety conditions for the current traffic volume. However, spokesperson Claude Ouimet added the MTQ owns the necessary land to expand the highway to a four-lane, divided road (such as Ontario's Highway 417), and it is expected that the MTQ will make this change between 2020 and 2025.

"The type of construction depends on the needs of the traffic flow," said Ouimet. "What [the MTQ] will look at - once the highway is completed in full from the Laurentians to the Outaouais - is what traffic will reroute to this road from others. Right now, we know traffic from Highway 148 will move to Highway 50, so a factor we will need to examine is the phenomenon of this shift."

She added the traffic flow is reviewed every time "a new need" is observed.

"Traffic flow also goes hand in hand with security, so if conditions for volume are met by the highway's construction type, then the highway responds to our security needs," Ouimet added.

In 2003, the U.S.-based National Cooperative Highway Research Program performed a comparative study of its conventional, two-lane rural roads and the 2+1 roads being used in Europe.

Its research concluded that accident rates on 2+1 roads were anywhere from 22 to 46 per cent lower than on conventional two-lane highways (such as Highway 148). It therefore recommended the use of 2+1 roads in the United States, but primarily suggested the European method could be used to reconstruct or restripe two-lane roads with wide lanes or wide shoulders.

The report added, "A 2+1 road can serve as an effective design alternative for higher-volume, two-lane roads where the provision of a four-lane cross section is not practical due to budget constraints or environmental concerns."

Ouimet, however, said neither budget constraints nor environmental concerns were factors in the decision to build Highway 50 as a 2+1 road.