Caledon residents come together to advocate for road safety after death of young Bolton woman

Adrianna Milena McCauley was killed in four-vehicle collision September 10

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A tragic collision has galvanized the Caledon community and led to the creation of a new road safety advocacy group. 

On September 10, Bolton woman Adrianna Milena McCauley, 23, was killed in a four-vehicle collision at the intersection of Coleraine Drive and King Street West in Bolton.

The accident shook the community and led road safety advocates to organize a community meeting at a local convention centre on September 25.

The meeting, hosted by the newly-formed Caledon Community Road Safety Advocacy Group (CCRSA), was attended by around 200 people.

Cheryl Connors, a long-time Caledon resident and road safety advocate, attended the meeting, and stressed the importance of action.

“This is an issue many of us have been concerned about for a really long time… (Adrianna) dying is the tipping point for the community,” said Connors. 

She said everyone in Caledon has a story of a scary experience on the road and that these days, people are becoming increasingly scared to leave their homes and drive places.

“Enough is enough, we are not safe,” said Connors.

Connors explained the CCRSA is trying to keep the conversation focused on actionable goals. She said decades of short-sighted planning at all levels of government has led to an unreasonable concentration of heavy trucks near Caledon's residential communities.

There are five immediate goals the CCRSA is advocating for, and they are as follows:

The Town of Caledon must declare a road safety crisis;

The Town of Caledon must impose a moratorium on approvals for truck-heavy development until resident safety can be guaranteed;

Enforcement on all Caledon roads must be increased, whether it's enforcement for speeding, impaired driving, unsafe vehicles, or trucks driving on no-truck routes;

Schedule weekly truck blitzes to check for unsafe trucks for a period of six months, reviewing and extending if necessary, to remove unsafe trucks and drivers from Caledon roads;

Convene an urgent traffic safety meeting with representation from municipal, regional, and provincial government; neighbouring municipalities; traffic safety specialists, engineers, and bylaw enforcement specialists; first responders; stakeholders from the trucking and aggregate industries; and Caledon community groups and residents.

Connors said at the CCRSA's meeting, she heard from many people who were angry, sad, and scared. 

“It really struck me how afraid people are… my son is 23 as well, it really struck home and everyone's heart broke,” said Connors. “People are living with fear every day.”

On October 3, at 5:45 p.m. residents are going to meet outside the Humber River Centre in Bolton for a solemn walk titled “March to Save the Next Life” in honour of McCauley.

The walk takes place ahead of a scheduled Town of Caledon and Caledon OPP community traffic safety meeting which runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Humber River Centre. 

Connors hopes the new CCRSA group can bring together people from across Caledon to advocate for road safety.