OPP warn of delays as demonstrations slow traffic on Hwy 401 from Cornwall to Napanee

OPP say they are tracking a rolling blockade of protesters travelling down Highway 401 in eastern Ontario on Wednesday.

The protest began in Cornwall and is expected to end in Napanee, Ont., OPP said Wednesday morning.

Police are warning that the protest may slow traffic on that section of the highway and ask motorists to be careful.

Police say they are working with the protesters, who they believe are acting in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people, who oppose a natural gas pipeline project that would run through the First Nation’s territory in northern B.C.

Similar solidarity blockades, including a lengthy blockage of a CN rail line in Tyendinaga, Ont., took place last year in eastern Ontario in support of those protesting the Coastal Gaslink pipeline.

New protests and blockades have begun over the project, which is half complete, leading to the arrest of 15 people this past weekend, including two journalists, who were at a pipeline work site.

OPP say their main objective in dealing with the Ontario blockades Wednesday is to keep traffic moving in a safe way while also allowing protesters a “safe and peaceful opportunity to exercise their lawful rights, while minimizing the impact on the travelling public.”

— With files from Global News’ Phil Heidenreich and Jessika Guse

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