'I would not wish this pain upon anyone': Families of Hwy. 69 victims plead for action

Heartbreak and frustration were in full view during a town hall-style meeting on April 29 regarding the province’s failure to complete the four-laning of Highway 69. Opening the evening event, Arsh Patel, 22, said that his parents’ deaths in a motor vehicle incident on Highway 69 only a few weeks prior “could have been avoided.” “The tragedy was sudden and unexpected,” he told an audience of more than 50 at the Northern Water Sports Centre. “One day they were here, the next they were gone … I would not wish this pain upon anyone. Yet, I feel without action, another family may be standing here exactly where I am right now.” The April 7 deaths of Vinod and Shilpa Patel spurred a reinvigorated round of advocacy for the province to complete the four-laning of Highway 69. The Patel couple’s vehicle crashed along the final 68-kilometre stretch of Highway 69 which is still two lanes, between French River and Parry Sound. Two days later, another person was killed along this same two-lane stretch of highway. Ontario NDP MPPs Jamie West (Sudbury) and France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) hosted the town hall meeting, during which West clarified that although many people were there because of the Patel family tragedy, highway safety along the two-lane stretch is a longstanding concern. Between Jan. 1, 2018 and April 15, 2026, there have been 820 motor vehicle collisions along the two-lane stretch of highway, resulting in 125 injuries and 18 fatalities. During the meeting, Dr. Gary Bota, a past head of Sudbury’s emergency department, spoke up to highlight the fact that prior four-laning efforts have drastically improved highway safety, and was a product of past community advocacy. “The four-laning that we’ve gotten has had a huge, huge impact on reducing the numbers that I’d see (in the emergency department) every weekend,” he said. “Literally, every weekend." It’s on this front that he urged those in attendance to keep up the advocacy to get the final 68 kilometres four-laned. “Let’s keep moving forward,” he said. “We need this road built.” Greg Miller, who was chair of the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce in the early 90s, said he headed a community effort which delivered petition signatures to Queen’s Park at the time. “You can imagine how I feel, sitting here 36 years later,” Miller said. Although important progress has been made, when it comes to completing the final 68 kilometres, “We need to keep it going no matter what,” Miller added. “This highway touches all of us somehow.” Area resident John Snow shared that his wife, Kathy, was killed in a motor vehicle incident in the summer of 2001. Fellow vehicle occupant Cindy Benoit succumbed to her injuries one month later. His grandchildren, Snow said, have grown up without their grandmother. “I’m sure there are other people in this room right now who have their own stories about what’s missing in their lives,” Snow said. “We make the adaptation, we adjust, we heal, but we’re scarred, and life goes on.” After the meeting, Snow told Sudbury.com that it’ll take widespread community advocacy to convince the province to complete the final 68 kilometres of four-laning. “The power in the south doesn’t feel what’s going on,” he said. “It’s got to be a change in mindset to get things done, and I don’t have a solution.” Although the April 29 event was hosted by NDP MPPs, both West and Gélinas clarified that Highway 69 safety is not a political issue. On a similar front, they shared that the province’s failure to complete the final 68 kilometres of four-laning isn’t the fault of the three area First Nations whose land the project is required to cut through. Roughly half of the remaining 68 kilometres would cut through crown land, and Gélinas said she has met with the First Nations, and “they want this to happen.” In conversation with Sudbury.com last month, Magnetawan First Nation Chief Lloyd Noganosh clarified that although his community has an ongoing land dispute with the province, they “want the highway expansion done,” and his community had no intention of holding up progress. “You’ll sometimes hear that you need to vote for the government in power to get Highway 69 done,” West said, adding the 68 kilometres is primarily in the Progressive Conservative-held riding of Parry Sound—Muskoka. “This is not a political thing, this is about saving lives.” The Progressive Conservatives have promised to complete the four-laning of Highway 69 during every provincial election since 2018, West said, but have failed to follow through. In late 2021, the province opened a 14-kilometre four-laned expansion of Highway 69, but these 14 kilometres were funded under the previous Liberal government. Gélinas pledged to share local stories with Transportation Minister Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria on Monday and to continue raising these stories in Queen’s Park. “When you hear a real story, it changes the tone at Queen’s Park,” she said. “We want to put pressure on the government to do the right thing and four-lane.” In 2019, the federal government committed $169 million toward four-laning the final 68 kilometres, contingent on the province agreeing to provide matching funds, which they have yet to do. In an open letter to Ford published earlier this week, Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe wrote, “The four-laning of Highway 69 has been studied, planned and deferred for too long. The provincial government’s delays have caused immeasurable harm to people.” Lapointe reported that the province’s timeline for Highway 69 has construction starting in 2029 and ending in 2037. She has requested the federal government keep the $169 million available. Promised for decades, both West and Gélinas expressed skepticism regarding the 2037 timeline during the April 29 town hall-style meeting, with West also arguing that it could get done much quicker than that, shrugging, “We know how to build highways.” Meanwhile, Suketu Patel, a friend of the Patel couple who died on April 7, has set up a website to aid in local advocacy efforts, at savelivesonhw69.com. Only partially visible at the time of this story’s publication, he said the balance of the website would go live sometime this weekend. Last month, Sudbury.com reached out to the province with a series of questions regarding Highway 69, but they refused to answer them, which is common under the Ford government. In response, West issued the province a series of similar questions to the province in the Orders and Notices paper, for which the government must file a response within 24 sessional days of filing. Submitted on March 31, West said there has been no response to date. These questions include: Would the minister of Transportation provide the relevant data regarding the annual number of collisions, road closures, traffic-related injuries and traffic-related fatal injuries along the remaining 68 km of Highway 69 for each calendar year since 2018. Would the minister of Transportation provide an update on four-laning of the remaining 68 km of Highway 69 project that could be shared with our constituents. Would the minister of Transportation provide the dates of the meetings that have been held annually with the three affected First Nations — Magnetawan, Henvey Inlet and Shawanaga — regarding the four-laning of the remaining 68 km of Highway 69 for each calendar year since 2018. Would the minister of Transportation provide the number of meetings that have been held annually with the three affected First Nations — Magnetawan, Henvey Inlet and Shawanaga — regarding the four-laning of the remaining 68 km of Highway 69 for each calendar year since 2018. Would the minister of Transportation provide the most-recent status of the province’s consultations with the three affected First Nations — Magnetawan, Henvey Inlet and Shawanaga — regarding the four-laning of the remaining 68 km of Highway 69. Would the minister of Transportation provide the estimated timelines for the start and completion of the four-laning of the remaining 68 km of Highway 69. In the event the province answers these questions, Sudbury.com will publish a follow-up story highlighting what the province has to say. Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.