Highway accidents jumped after twinning
October 3, 2012, 4:12 am
Kevin Weedmark
Statistics compiled by the RCMP show that the number of accidents in the Moosomin area jumped significantly after the twinned section of Trans-Canada Highway was opened around the town of Moosomin on Nov. 6, 2008.
The number of accidents recorded by the RCMP for the Moosomin detachment area jumped significantly, from 106 in 2007-the last complete year the highway was not twinned and traffic had to slow down through Moosomin-to 117 in 2008, when the twinned highway was open for two months-to 152 in 2009 and 178 in 2010.
The RCMP data also shows that the number of injuries and fatalities as a result of highway collisions in the Moosomin detachment area more than doubled in the two years from 2008 to 2010.
In 2008, before the twinning, there were a total of 23 injuries and no deaths in highway accidents in the Moosomin detachment area-18 minor injuries and five moderate injuries.
In 2010, after the highway was twinned, there were more than twice as many injuries and deaths-24 minor injuries, nine moderate injuries, five major incapacitating injuries and 11 fatalities, for a total of 49, according to the RCMP figures.
Separate data from SGI shows that the section of the Trans-Canada Highway from Moosomin to the Manitoba border has the highest accident rate of any section of the Trans-Canada in Saskatchewan, and that Moosomin has twice the provincial accident rate.
Moosomin town council has written to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways asking for a meeting to discuss concerns about the safety of the three intersections along Highway 1 in Moosomin.
The latest concerns were raised after a string of three accidents with injuries over the space of six days at the intersections.
The data compiled by the RCMP appears below. Only preliminary data is available from the RCMP for 2011. SGI, meanwhile, has not yet realeased any data for 2011-the SGI figures that show the section of Highway 1 from Moosomin to the Manitoba border has the highest accident rate along Highway 1 is the latest available, from 2010.
