UPDATE: Region response to the latest vehicle hitting a tree on Lakeshore Road

The NOTL Local received an email  today from Niagara Region's associate director, transportation planning Scott Fraser in response to our questions about the most recent collision on Lakeshore Road: 

"Niagara Region is aware of the collision that took place on July 10 on Lakeshore Road between Niven and Four Mile Creek Road. Road safety is always our priority and we take this unfortunate incident and all collisions on our Regional roads seriously.  We have taken steps in recent weeks to improve safety in this area and are currently completing a comprehensive review to determine what further measures may make the area safer. This work is ongoing and no specific decisions on further measures have been made at this time. The Region will share the recommendations from the review when finalized. The paint on trees is not related to this review." 

Editor's note: The update as received from the region referred to the collision as June 10. We have corrected it as the most recent collision was July 10.

THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM JULY 11

A collision on Lakeshore Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake Wednesday evening, yet another involving a vehicle hitting a tree on a deadly curve, has sent a man to hospital. The incident is raising more questions about what action will be taken to make that particular section of road safer, and when.

Wednesday evening Niagara Regional Police were called to the site, across the road from Lakeshore Cemetery, to find a car had left the road and hit a tree. It was beside the tree that was removed in June by the Niagara Region, after it was hit on June 5 by a driver who lost his life in the collision. The tree that was removed was the same site of a collision and death of a woman in June, 2023.

An email from Const. Jessie Vujasic of the Niagara Regional Police to The Local Thursday says that on Wednesday evening, at about 6:30 p.m., officers went to the area of Lakeshore Road and Old Lakeshore Road in response to a single motor vehicle collision.

A 31-year-old man was driving a Toyota Corolla westbound on Lakeshore Road, when it veered off the road and collided with a tree. “The driver sustained minor injuries,” Vujasic says, asking anyone with information to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service at 905-688-4111, option 3, ext. 1002200.

There are a total of four trees in the area that are now marked with red paint. The Local is waiting for a response from the region to determine whether those trees are also slated for removal, and when, and also for information about whether the region intends to install guardrails along that stretch of road.

The stump of the large, mature tree that was cut down about three weeks ago has also been removed, and the ground covered over. Shirley Madsen, who lives across Lakeshore Road, says she was told by police that if the large tree had still been there, the car would have hit it.

David Gilchrist, photographer for The Local, said Thursday morning it was clear to see where the stump had been and it looked to him that the car travelled over that spot, hitting the tree closest to it.

On June 20, Scott Fraser, the region’s associate director of regional transportation planning, told The Local the tree that was taken down in June needed to be removed to reduce risk in the area, and to allow for potential guardrails to be installed, although a final decision had not been made at that point.

“We expect to complete our full review in two to three weeks and will make our recommendations after considering all the information,” he said then. “In the meantime, we are installing additional signs to warn of potential hazards in the area. We installed two hazard marker signs today and expect to install a third in the coming weeks. The ongoing safety review will determine if these markers remain permanently or if they are replaced by other safety measures in future.”

At that time the region was still looking at the possible removal or protection of more trees, “and other potential safety measures.”

In June, a regional spokesperson told The Local the collision history for Lakeshore Road from Four Mile Creek to Niven Road, covering Jan. 1, 2003 up to Dec. 31, 2023, included 38 collisions.

“This historic rate of total collisions is comparable to other areas of the regional road network for a two-lane rural road,” the report said. “The two recent fatal accidents have raised the importance of implementing road safety improvements for this area.”

One, in 2008, resulted in the deaths of two teenage girls, but beyond that, the historic information did not provide details of the severity of the collisions.

When asked for further details about historic collisions, the Niagara Regional Police told The Local it would have to be through a request under the Freedom of Information Act, and there would be a cost attached.

Shirley Madsen, who lives on the other side of Lakeshore Road not far from the group of trees, has met the mother of the woman who died at that spot in 2023, and heard from her again following last night’s collision. It’s an emotional and difficult time for families who have lost their loved ones to collisions on Lakeshore Road, she says. “Every time something else happens, it brings it all back, for them and for me.”

Madsen has posted several times over the years on Facebook sites, warning of the danger of that stretch of road and imploring more be done to make it safer. Her posts and others have created controversy over what should be done, some people feeling the trees are not the problem and should be protected rather than removed. Others suggest it’s time to do more than removing trees, which doesn’t seem to be effective. Facebook posts include suggestions to install speed bumps or guardrails, to increase police patrolling or put up a speed camera.

Another comment called on people to be kind, considerate, and sensitive to those who have suffered losses as a result of these collisions.

Madsen has received both criticism and support for her comments, and she becomes emotional talking about it — she has witnessed the loss of life, the devastation to families, and wants nothing more than it to end.

“I post it because I think if people see it, maybe people will get it,” and might be prompted to call on the region to do more, she says. Although her photo of the car in Wednesday's collision showed only some damage to the front of the vehicle, she was asked not to post more photos that would upset readers.

She is also concerned about the number of bikes on the busy stretch of road, many of them cyclists on winery tours. She says she recently spoke to two young women on Lakeshore Road who were on a bicycle built for two, wobbling and having trouble keeping their balance on it. When she implored them to be careful, “they said they had no idea when they took the tour how busy the road would be, and that there would be no bike lanes. Before they rode off one of the girls hugged me and said, ‘my mother would love you.’”