Snow plowing contractors in Muskoka fined by the province

CTV Barrie: Muskoka snow clearing Some punishments have been handed out to companies who take care of the roads in Muskoka. Katherine Ward has more

CTV News has learned snow plow contractors who take care of some of the highways in Muskoka have been fined by the province.

People in Huntsville have complained about bad road conditions for months. They say Highway 11 isn’t being cleared the way it used to be.

“It’s scary…the ramps are horrible, horrible. It just…it’s horrendous,” says Emsdale resident Kelly Cuff.

On Thursday morning, police received eight calls for collisions on the highway between Bracebridge and Huntsville.

“There was lots of black ice on the highway this morning as well as packed snow and icy conditions,” says OPP Const. Jessica Drake.

The Ministry of Transportation now uses private companies to plow and maintain Highway 11 and other provincial roads in Muskoka under contracts that spell out the rules.

“Hold the operator accountable for providing the service they're committed to doing. Tax payers pay a lot of money for it,” says Huntsville resident Tom Bath.

When CTV News spoke to the MTO earlier in January, they said their contractors were meeting the standards of those contracts. But CTV News has now learned that fines were issued by the MTO this winter to plow contractors in the Huntsville and Muskoka area for not meeting certain standards.

Those fines were for what the Ministry of Transportation is calling minor non-conformances. That could be anything from not getting the highway back to bare pavement in time, or not getting sand and salt on the roads fast enough. But when we asked for specifics, the MTO would not say what fines were issued, how much they were, or when they were handed out.

That’s a big concern for Huntsville’s mayor – who feels the road conditions have a lot to do with the accidents.

“It would be great to have more clear representation from the Ministry of Transportation about what they’re doing to deal with the issue. The silence is deafening. We need to hear more and see more action and we’re not getting it,” says Claude Doughty.

CTV News also tried to reach out to the contractors for a comment but received no reply.

Doughty now wants the Premier’s help. He feels it’s a dangerous situation that needs attention now.

“It’s frustrating, people are getting hurt every day, lives are being ruined, insurance companies are going to look at this whole situation and say premiums have to go up folks.”

The mayor says he’s getting so frustrated he would like to send the town’s salters and snow plows out to properly clear the provincial highways. He says until the province fixes the problem – the snowy roads are a danger for everyone.