The Québec government has announced a series of measures to improve safety on Autoroute 50, beginning this summer. The announcement was made on Friday, July 5 after a series of serious and fatal collisions on the 87-kilometre highway between Gatineau and Mirabel. Most of the highway is two lanes with occasional passing lanes. Speed and illegal passing have been a recurring problem along the highway.
“With the measures announced today, we wish to respond concretely and quickly to the population’s expectations in terms of road safety on Autoroute 50,” Québec Minister of Transportation Geneviève Guilbault said.
Over the coming weeks, with the collaboration of the Sûreté du Québec, police surveillance will be increased on the highway, particularly in the most accident-prone areas. An awareness campaign will also be deployed by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), in the Laurentides and Outaouais regions, to encourage users to adopt prudent driving behaviours by respecting posted speed limits, avoiding taking risks, and stopping in case of fatigue while driving. In addition, mobile photo radars could be installed by the end of the year along the Autoroute 50 corridor.
Argenteuil Member of the National Assembly Agnès Grondin said the measures will help improve safety on the highway until a multi-year project to fully divide the route is completed.
“Until the massive widening work on Highway 50 is completed, it has become imperative to act to secure travel on this essential route for Argenteuil,” Grondin said.
The 87 km of mostly two-lane highway between L’Ange-Gardien and Mirabel is being analyzed in order to determine the sites where it will be possible to install a median safety barrier to separate the lanes and assess whether the addition of lighting is required. The first work should begin in the fall of 2025.
About bloody time. Too many lives had to be lost for change to happen. It’s so sad.