It’s not the first time a road in Hamilton Township was closed because motorists don’t follow Emergency Detour Routes and it likely won’t be the last.
The westbound lanes of Highway 401 at Grafton was closed for several hours in the morning resulting in traffic being diverted off the highway.
Emergency Detour Route signs are in place for traffic diverted off the highway to follow, but it’s not uncommon for people to follow maps on their phone instead of EDR signs.
People living along Danforth Road East between McEwen Road and Cunningham Road east of Cobourg have become so accustomed transports being stuck, that they know what to do when it happens.
Although Danforth Road East isn’t a Emergency Detour Route, on Sunday morning (February 16, 2025) a transport was heading west along Danforth Road East failed to make the hill and started to slide backwards, but stopped.
A SUV was also traveling westbound and tried to pass the transport, but because stuck when the driver went to far off the road.
Two other transports had to stop at the bottom of the hill due to the road being blocked.
While the transport driver waited for a tow-truck, the driver of the SUV tried using a snow-brush commonly used for clearing snow from windshields to dig his vehicle out from the predicament.
A person who lives nearby came by on a snowmobile and offered what assistance he could to the motorist.
The good samaritan drove his snowmobile back to his house to get two shovels in hopes that would help free the vehicle from the snow.
He also placed two pylons on Danforth Road East by McEwen Road to alert oncoming drivers of the hazard.
Unfortunately a local resident who was driving east, came over the hill and found out to late the road had been blocked by the transport.
The pickup entered the ditch a wall of snow enveloped the vehicle which also became stuck in the ditch.
After he exited the vehicle unharmed, he told Today’s Northumberland that it was either collide with the transport or put the pickup in the ditch.
Like others that live in the area, he was frustrated that people don’t follow the Emergency Detour Route and get stuck causing a hazard.
Northumberland OPP arrived and shut down the roadway from the west.
The driver of the transport stuck on the hill told Today’s Northumberland, “there was no other way to go.”
But when told of County Road 2, he said he was unfamiliar with that and didn’t know how to get there.
One of the transport drivers at the bottom of the hills said he had been waiting in his cab for four hours.
The driver was traveling from Cornwall, headed to Toronto said the roads were, “horrible.”
“The route is not good for trucks in these types of situations,” said the driver who realized he wasn’t on a EDR.
“It’s not made for trucks.”
But he admitted that he did follow others, saying, “there was no other way.”
Another transport driver who was also stuck at the bottom of the hill said conditions on the highway were, “very bad.”
The driver said initially he was going from Calgary, traveling west to Mississauga, then corrected himself stating he was traveling from Montreal to Mississauga.
The driver stated differently from the previous driver stating Danforth Road East is the Emergency Detour Route.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
