The municipality where a crash killed a Walkerton teacher and four students wants a safety study conducted at the intersection where the deadly collision occurred.
Thames Centre council voted unanimously in favour of a motion at Monday night's regular meeting to call on Middlesex and Oxford counties to conduct a traffic and roadway study at the intersection of Thorndale and Cobble Hills roads.
Walkerton District Community School teacher Matt Eckert and students Olivia Rourke, Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford, and Danica Baker were killed at that location last Friday afternoon when the SUV they were in collided with a transport truck. Three of the five in the SUV died at the scene, while two others died in hospital. The driver of the transport and the driver and passenger of a second SUV involved suffered minor injuries.
Councillors Chantel Crockett and Thomas Heeman put forward the joint motion to request the upper-tier municipalities conduct the comprehensive traffic and roadway study after OPP wrap up the ongoing investigation.
"Considerable thought has been given to this motion as we await the results of the investigation. But I believe it's important that we take steps within our authority to prevent future incidents on our rural roads," said Crockett.
Heeman added that anything council can do to improve safety is worth doing.
The motion, which remains open to amendment pending the findings of the OPP investigation, was passed without further discussion with all members of council in agreement.
Possible safety enhancements at the intersection could include rumble strips, which alert drivers to an upcoming stop, and flashing lights affixed to the top of stop signs. The intersection is currently governed by a two-way stop on Cobble Hills Road.
Thames Centre Mayor Sharron McMillan opened Monday's council meeting by offering the municipality's condolences to family and friends of the victims of the deadly crash.
"There are no words to express our sadness at such a loss," said McMillan. "We have been in touch with the mayor of Walkerton to express our sympathies for this terrible loss and municipal flags will be lowered to half-mast until the end of the week to show respect to all of those affect by this tragedy."
McMillan also noted that Victims Services of Middlesex London will be at the Thorndale Lions Community Centre on Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. to provide support to the community on a drop-in basis. A similar initiative to offer support to those grieving the loss of the five lives was held Monday night at the Tara Community Centre hall. It came one day after a vigil outside of the school which was attended by more than 1,000 people.
A GoFundMe campaign set up to offer financial support to the victims' families had raised more than $92,000 by late Tuesday morning.