The Red Hill Valley Parkway Inquiry (RHVPI) will begin to take shape late this week when a public meeting convenes on Thursday and presentations are heard by commissioner Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel on Friday.
Wilton-Siegel was appointed to head the judicial inquiry in May of 2019 to look into unanswered questions about the 2013 Tradewind Scientific report that revealed a troubling safety report involving the parkway’s surface.
Both meetings will take place in the council chamber of city hall with the public meeting starting at 7 p.m. on Thursday, while the first of Friday’s presentations will be heard at 10 a.m.
The city; the province; Dufferin Construction, which built the Parkway; Golder Associates, which commissioned the Tradewind friction study; a former city accountant; accident victim Jodi Gawrylash; and Belinda Marazzato, the mother of Olivia Smosarski, who died in a collision on the parkway, will be the first of the nine speakers on Friday.
Representatives from two law firms, Grosso Hooper and Scarfone Hawkins, will close out Friday’s session.
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The firms represent a group involved in a $250-million class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of drivers who have crashed on the parkway since its opening in 2007.
The lawsuit states that over 2,000 vehicles have lost control on the road in the past 12 years, leading to either single- or multiple-vehicle crashes as a result of the city’s “negligent design, construction and maintenance” of the parkway.
None of those claims has been proven in court.
The judicial inquiry is set to look into unanswered questions about the 2013 Tradewind Scientific report, which was reportedly buried for five years. The report analyzed friction levels on the parkway and recommended a “more detailed investigation” and “possible remedial action” to enhance the surface texture and friction characteristics of the parkway.
The audit revealed that friction values were “below or well below” United Kingdom safety standards, which were used as a benchmark in the study.
The report came to light in 2018 when new director of engineering services Gord McGuire came across the Tradewind study, which recommended “further examination of the pavement surface, composition and wear performance” and “more investigatory work.”
In February of 2019, the city of Hamilton issued a public apology for the buried report and followed up in March by asking a superior court judge to investigate the matter with a public inquiry. The city then allocated $7 million to cover the costs of what could be a lengthy probe in April.
Once completed, Wilton-Siegel’s written findings and recommendations are expected to be on the public record.
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