CHRIS LOWREY
PONTIAC April 18, 2018
Clarendon Mayor John Armstrong asked the MRC Pontiac council of mayors to consider putting rumble strips along the shoulders and centre of Hwy. 148.
Rumble strips are grooves in the asphalt along the shoulders and centre lines of busy roads that are side-by-side.
The idea is that when a vehicle hits these rumble strips, the loud noises will snap a driver to attention. It’s mainly used as a fail-safe method to wake up drivers who have fallen asleep at the wheel.
“What triggered my attention again was the accident in Quyon,” Armstrong said, referring to the fatal accident on Hwy. 148 in Quyon on April 10.
Armstrong also pointed to the fact that the stretch of Hwy. 17 in Ontario that isn’t divided has rumble strips.

Since 2013, there have been two fatal accidents on Hwy. 148 within the MRC Pontiac territory and seven within the Municipality of Pontiac’s territory.
It’s not clear how many of those accidents involved a driver falling asleep at the wheel.
When it comes to rumble strips, there are three types: rolled, milled and raised.
Rolled and milled are both similar, as they create an indentation in the roadway. Raised rumble strips protrude about an inch off the roadway.
Raised rumble strips are not recommended for climates that have cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls as they can cause damage to snow removal equipment.
According to a report by the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC), the purpose of a rumble strip “is to provide the motorist with both an audible and tactile warning that the vehicle has partially or completely departed the travelled way of a highway.”
According to the TAC report, the average cost to complete rumble strips in Alberta in 2000 was $400 per km for a 155 km stretch of highway.
However, the same report notes that the cost in the same year in New Brunswick was $1,080 per km, but it was for a much shorter 10 km stretch of highway.
“We as a council feel that we can’t put a cost on something that will save even one life,” Armstrong said.