Pylon alley returns to Trans-Canada in Jemseg area, where 3 died last summer

The public still has few answers about a crash that killed three people in a construction zone last year, but now a similar summer lane reduction is in force near the same location. 

On the Trans-Canada Highway, two large crossings over the Jemseg and St. John rivers are again reduced to one lane in each direction.

A deadly crash involving two large trucks and a pickup truck happened last July 25 several kilometres up the highway from the bridges in what was at the time an 11-kilometre, pylon-marked lane reduction.

This year, the construction zones are only on the bridges, but they are set up in the same way as last year, with heavy traffic on the main highway through New Brunswick separated only by pylons.

The construction slashes right through the municipality of Arcadia, and Mayor Derek Pleadwell can't help but connect this summer's construction with last year's.

"For everyone, it's certainly fresh in their mind with the loss of life last year in the accident, and just worried about a similar thing happening this year," Pleadwell said.

He said it's also dangerous for local drivers merging onto the highway who have to come to a complete stop first, instead of a yield, which, "doesn't appear terribly safe from our community perspective."

Arcadia Deputy Mayor Steven Sharpe is also a member of the Jemseg and Area Volunteer Fire Department, which held a debrief after the crash last summer and sent a memo to the province outlining department concerns. 

"After the debrief was completed, we made some recommendations that were put forward to our concerns about highway maintenance and how it's being administered," Sharpe said.

He declined to speak specifically to the concerns, but said that generally they involved the lane reductions and sudden merge onto the highway from a stop sign at the Jemseg onramp.

"That is a big concern for us because we need basically more enforcement in this area, trying to get the message out that you need to slow down in these construction zones," Sharpe said.

The bridges are an important link not only for New Brunswick, but also for Atlantic Canada. The Trans-Canada is the only highway link between the rest of Canada for tourists and truckers travelling to Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

CBC News sent multiple interview requests to MRDC general manager Ed Donelan, whose company is responsible for that section of highway, but he would only provide an email statement.

Donelan said work on the bridges last summer included new asphalt and water proofing, and this summer, bridge joints will be replaced. Construction will last until October, he said.