GUELPH/ERAMOSA – A woman suffering long-term repercussions from a crash at a notorious Highway 6 intersection between Ennotville and Marden is calling for immediate safety measures before more people are hurt or killed.
On Dec. 18, Shawna Percy-Jurchuk was travelling south on Highway 6 with her 16-year-old daughter in the driver’s seat and her 10-year-old son fastened in the back when a Tesla driver, turning left from Wellington Road 22 onto the highway, T-boned the family’s Toyota Venza.
“So many things happened at once, I just remember … the feeling of the whole car shaking, and then me thinking ‘Oh my God,’” she said.
“And then fear about my kids … trying to reassure them, ‘We’re okay.’”
The collision happened in a valley between two hills at the border of Centre Wellington and Guelph/Eramosa, where Wellington Road 22 and 8th Line intersect with Highway 6.
It’s anticipated construction of a roundabout will begin this spring to replace the crash-prone intersection, the site of many collisions and several fatalities.
But Percy-Jurchuk says the province isn’t doing enough to mitigate collisions in the meantime.
She began advocating for interim safety measures at the intersection shortly after the family moved to a Highway 6 farm property in 2024, emailing then Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, current MPP Joseph Racinsky and the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).
That year the province was exploring how to best overhaul the problem intersection.
Percy-Jurchuk has since documented numerous collisions there; and her husband, Jason Jurchuk, witnessed a family get T-boned there last summer.
As her daughter approached the notorious intersection last month, Percy-Jurchuk told her to move from the left, south-bound lane to the right.
The left lane is used for turns from Highway 6, to receive turns from Wellington Road 22, and passing. Drivers later merge into the lane as the highway narrows up the valley hill.
“There’s just way too many things happening in that lane,” Percy-Jurchuk said.
Highway 6 and Wellington Road 22/8th Line are seen from 8th Line. A roundabout will replace the crash-prone intersection, with construction expected to begin this spring. Advertiser file photo
She recalled fearing someone in a long line of traffic waiting to turn off Wellington Road 22 would become impatient and make a bad move.
Percy-Jurchuk was shoulder-checking her daughter’s lane change when her fears were realized.
After the crash, and following more than a year of advocating for increased safety measures to little avail, Percy-Jurchuk launched a Change.org petition on Boxing Day, calling for immediate action from the province.
“Clearly emails are not enough; clearly our voices are not enough,” she said.
Garnering over 4,200 signatures as of Jan. 5, the petition calls for 10 action items to be implemented, among them rumble strips, a dedicated turn lane, clear signage, pavement markings, digital speed signs, flashing lights and increased lighting.
“It’s a multifaceted problem in need of a multifaceted approach,” Percy-Jurchuk said, adding she hopes public pressure and media attention will motivate the government to do more.
The MTO did not answer specific questions from the Advertiser and did not make anyone available for an interview. A spokesperson said pavement markings, new signs and flashing beacons have been installed along Wellington Road 22.
The Advertiser was told to file a Freedom of Information request, often a prohibitively arduous and expensive process, to obtain data about the number of collisions at the intersection. The OPP did not have readily available data.
The province is currently expropriating portions of adjacent properties needed to overhaul the intersection, a process anticipated to be complete by April.
Two vehicles involved in a collision at the intersection of Wellington Road 22 and 8th Line in 2022 rest in the ditch along Highway 6. The crash sent four to hospital — two with life-threatening injuries. Advertiser file photo
MPP Racinsky said action is needed for the dangerous intersection, but interim options are limited.
“We can’t do all the things she is asking for,” Racinsky said of Percy-Jurchuk’s petition.
“I’m going to continue to advocate with the MTO to get shovels in the ground as quickly as possible on that roundabout.”
On Christmas Day, Percy-Jurchuk escaped to a room at her mother-in-law’s house after just 20 minutes with her family, she said.
Overwhelmed by her symptoms, she spent the rest of the day in bed.
Her children have suffered whiplash, she said, and continue to complain of pain.
Percy-Jurchuk worries about the long-term psychological effects on both children; and when she might return to the work she loves, as a certified mental health educator and suicide prevention trainer.
After the wreckage clears and the headlines fade, those harmed are left behind to try and piece their lives back together, she said, emphasizing the human toll of the collisions.
“The amount of hours you have to invest in appointments, explaining, advocating – nothing can give you that time back, and you don’t get paid for all those hours just to try to rectify what happened,” she said.
Without immediate action from the province – especially during the icy, winter months – she fears there will be more like her, left suffering.
“We have to put people over politics,” she said.
