Peterborough County OPP say one person is dead following a crash on Highway 115 south of Peterborough on Monday morning.
Around 5 a.m., emergency crews were called to the scene in the centre median near Porter Road which is near the boundary of the City of Kawartha Lakes and Cavan Monaghan Township. There they found three vehicles which had crashed.
Paramedics treated at least one person at the scene for serious injuries before taking them to hospital for further treatment.
In a statement around 9:15 a.m., OPP said one person was pronounced deceased.
The other drivers involved were not seriously hurt.
All lanes of Highway 115 were as OPP investigated the cause of the collision. The northbound lanes were closed at Porter Road and the southbound lanes were closed at Tapley 1/4 Line. The closures were expected to last until late Monday afternoon.
In an interview Monday afternoon with Global News Peterborough, OPP Const. Joe Ayotte said police initially thought there was a multi-vehicle collision involving three vehicles. However, he says investigators have determined there were three separate crashes which occurred around the same time in close proximity to each other.
“They all ended up going into the ditch due to black ice road conditions,” he said.
“One of the vehicles ended up rolling over — the deceased driver was operating that vehicle. The first responders and our officers that first attended did say it was very windy and there was black ice on the highway.”
Ayotte said so far in 2021, there have been 29 collisions on Hwy. 115 between Porter Road and County Road 28.
“That stretch is a very flat area,” said Ayotte. “The wind kind of whips across. So there’s possible blowing snow coming across the highway that it tends to freeze a little bit quicker. Anybody from the area knows it’s a bad spot for collisions. Just be careful when you’re travelling through there. Adjust your speeds. Especially in low-light hours — in the night or early in the morning when it is dark.”
Cavan Monaghan Township Mayor Scott McFadden was not available on Monday for an interview. In an email to Global News Peterborough, he says he has asked that Highway 115 safety be added to the agenda of the township council’s next meeting on Dec. 6.
UPDATE Tuesday, Nov. 23
On Tuesday morning, OPP identified the victim as David Legris, 37, of Oshawa, Ont.
The collision remains under investigation.
Police are appealing to any witnesses or anyone with video/dash camera footage of the collision to call them at 705-742-0401 or 1-888-310-1122.
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