Retired park warden questions RCMP's handling of lengthy highway closure in Terra Nova park
Lineups were long on the Trans-Canada Highway in Terra Nova National Park on Aug. 6, when the highway was closed following a fatal collision. (Submitted by Nathan Wells)
A former Parks Canada warden is questioning the need for lengthy highway closures following collisions, including a recent shutdown of the Trans-Canada Highway in Terra Nova National Park for several hours following a fatal accident.
Fred Wallace, who worked as a national parks warden for three decades — including in Terra Nova — says he rarely saw the road closed for several hours, as it was earlier this month. Even after serious crashes, he said, parks officials and police worked together to keep at least one lane open to traffic.
"The public was important," Wallace said. "We just didn't want to inconvenience them."
Parks Canada and the RCMP work together to clear the road, he says, evacuate the injured, take photographs of the scene and the evidence, secure the area and manage ongoing traffic.
On Aug. 6, a 62-year-old woman died when her car colliided with a motorhome on the Trans-Canada Highway. Both lanes of the highway in Terra Nova National Park were closed from around 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.when one lane was reopened.
"I would really question to what level of detail [the RCMP] have to get from an accident scene that takes eight or 10 hours to shut down," said Wallace.
He said the extended delay caused some travellers to miss ferry crossings, forcing them to wait an additional day or two.
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Wallace also said he questions whether the RCMP has enough resources to clear debris quickly and handle traffic efficiently, adding the staffing of park wardens is also not at the same level as when he retired.
RCMP Cpl. Dave Bourden, a collision reconstructionist, told CBC News that although the RCMP has staffing issues, they didn't affect the work or the time it took to clear the highway.
"We do not put public safety at risk," Bourden said.
"We always have members available to respond to these critical incidents in an extremely timely manner, and in this case, it was no different."
When a serious collision happens, especially one that results in a death, said Bourden, police have to wait for a specialist investigator to arrive at the scene and for evidence to be collected and documented. In the case of the collision in Terra Nova, the nearest specialist was in Deer Lake, about 400 kilometres away.
Bourden says the RCMP officers finished their work at the scene in less than an hour and a half, and further delays were out of their control.
Officers had to wait for a funeral home to collect the woman's body, said Bourden. Also, the motorhome's gas tank was ruptured and spilled fuel on the road, so firefighters were called in.
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