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Construction is slated to begin in the fall of this year, stated the transportation ministry.

Acknowledging the announcement is “certainly the most detailed release we’ve seen in some time,” Storey added a lot of promises have been made by various transportation ministers since the grassroots Build the Barrier group began pushing for action a few years ago.

Storey said her group has encouraged whoever is serving in that portfolio to hurry the process where safely possible.

“We are committed to making sure that our transportation system works for all Ontarians,” said Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney said in a media release. “Ontario’s roads are among the safest in North America – and our government intends to keep it that way.”

Jeff Yurek, the MPP for Elgin––Middlesex––London, described Wednesday’s announcement as “real action” on the government’s commitment to make “our roads safer for drivers and get people where they want to go across Southwestern Ontario faster.”

“People’s safety on Ontario’s roads and highways, especially on Highway 401, is one of our government’s top priorities,” he said.

The province has already installed high-tension cable barriers along much of Highway 401 between Tilbury and London as an interim safety measure.

But Storey pointed to a fatal Monday crash in Ohio, where a tractor-trailer crossing the median snapped the cable and hit a vehicle head on, as proof these barriers aren’t as effective.

“The sooner those cable barriers are out, the better,” she said.

There have been 11 fatalities and multiple hospitalizations in collisions on Highway 401 between Tilbury and London since February 2017, along with numerous incidents that caused significant property damage and road closures but did not require hospitalization, she said last month.

eshreve@postmedia.com

@Chathamnews