The driver of a truck involved in an accident Friday afternoon in Chemainus escaped injury but no longer has a job.
“He’s fine, he wasn’t going that fast,” Howard Davis, owner of Ryler Holdings, said the morning after the mishap that tied up traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway for several yours.
However, Davis says he was going too fast for the wet road conditions.
“This is the second time he’s crashed going too fast. I fired him.”
The truck was heading southbound after dropping off a load of logs at DCT Chambers’ chip mill in the Chemainus industrial area. The driver lost control after going through the controlled intersection at Henry Road.
He took out a row of concrete barricades separating the north and southbound lanes. It appears the truck spun around and landed on top of the barricades.
“We’ll figure out exactly what happened when we look at the data,” Davis explained, referring to the on-board equipment that monitors truck speed and other factors.
The mishap tied up traffic in both directions for several hours. Drivers reported being stalled for more than three hours as they crawled north to Fuller Lake Road where they were detoured down to Chemainus Road. From there, vehicles were directed to River Road and later Henry Road to continue southbound.
Coming from the north, vehicles were sent down River Road to Chemainus Road, through Halalt First Nation to Westholme Road.
The traffic congestion was aggravated by several factors including long weekend traffic flowing in both directions and the fact that the Lagoon Bridge between Chemainus and Ladysmith is closed for repairs.
That meant traffic could not use Chemainus Road as a detour route.
The accident has renewed cries of opposition to the proposed Tim Hortons/A&W and gas station development at the corner of Henry Road and the Trans-Canada.
Earlier this year, opponents of the development expressed fears about what the increased traffic would mean in terms of safety for vehicles turning on and off the highway at the busy intersection.
Former North Cowichan councillor Kate Marsh took to social media to express her fears about the controversial development.
“Sure, let’s put another gas station, two drive-through restaurants, a convenience store and other undetermined retail stores at the corner of Highway 1 and Henry Road. Though best practices is not for commercial development right next to a highway and that corner sees the most accidents of any place in Chemainus as per ICBC report,” Marsh wrote.
Reena van Steele joined Marsh is raising objections to the development after Friday’s accident.
“This is the intersection North Cowichan councillors will be funneling a constant flow back and forth daily, of thousands of more massive logging vehicles through this very intersection,” van Steele said.