‘Doesn’t make any sense’: Locals concerned over safety of Barrie construction site after fatal crash

After six young adults died in a car crash this weekend in Barrie, residents and community members are raising concerns over the safety precautions around a major construction site.

“Something like this should not have happened,” said resident Cathy Lebel, pointing at the site of the crash. “How did they get that far without being stopped?”

Lebel’s question is the same on the minds of friends, family, and community members. Despite being closed, locals say, due to a lack of barriers, McKay Road in Barrie is often used as a shortcut to get to and from the casino.

“I was at the casino a couple of weeks ago. I almost came through that road because of the signage,” Lebel explained.

The young group of adults — Curtis King, 22, River Wells, 23, Jason O’Connor, 22, Luke West, 22, Jersey Mitchell and Haley Marin — were at the casino on Friday night and reported missing on Saturday when family members hadn’t heard from them.

Barrie police are still investigating the cause of the crash that happened in the construction zone.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Lebel said. “There isn’t enough signage that doesn’t stop people from driving. It says ‘Local traffic only.’ Well, what’s local? I am local.”

On Monday evening, family members were escorted by police to the lip of a large concrete pit in a construction zone where the crash took place and could be seen tossing flowers into it.

The City of Barrie has said the intersection had been closed since the spring, and the area is currently the site of a municipal construction project.

“The road has been fully closed and signed accordingly for many months,” chief administrative officer Michael Prowse wrote in a statement, according to The Canadian Press.

A vigil is being planned for Saturday in Barrie to remember the lives lost.

Health and safety firm: There doesn’t appear to be enough protection at site of fatal crash

Barrie Police investigators say the probe into the “tragic event” will take time to complete.

Authorities acknowledged that the crash had not been reported to police when officers came across the scene at McKay Road and County Road 27, near Barrie’s southwest border, around 2 a.m. on Sunday.

Ben Scipione, Director of Health and Safety at Paramount Safety Consulting, tells CityNews more should have been done to safely block the construction site from vehicle traffic.

“If you look at the fencing around the hole, yes, there is a guard rail around it, but it’s not going to hold the vehicles or a stronger piece of equipment blasting through there,” said Scipione.

“Were they not anticipating that somebody could have gone through this?”

Barrie police are still investigating the crash that happened in a construction zone in a rural area over the weekend. Photo: CityNews video.

Construction started in the spring, with developers building a sewer and water system for a future neighbourhood. That includes building give construction tunnelling shafts, each 20 metres wide and 20 metres deep.

Scipione says the area should have been contained.

“I know they have the road closed signs, but there should be ‘danger due to construction,’ ‘danger due to fall hazard,’ danger due to open excavation,’ ‘no trespassing,'” Scipione said.

The concrete barriers were only added to the construction site on Tuesday. CityNews reached out to the developers and contractors listed on the project but did not receive a response.

Memorial at site continues to grow, donations pouring in

Family members, who declined to speak with the media, could be seen wrapping their arms around each other as they placed bouquets around the pit’s perimeter and dropped flowers over a metal fence into it.

Friends, meanwhile, are remembering the victims as kind souls taken too soon as tributes have begun to pour in for the lives lost.

King and Wells were identified as talented football players, West was mourned as a beloved lacrosse player and coach, and Mitchell was remembered as a passionate cheerleader.

Curtis King, River Wells, Jason O’Connor, Luke West, Jersey Mitchell and Haley Marin.

“A great guy. Always happy. My heart kind of sunk when I heard about it,” said Jakob, one of West’s lacrosse teammates for 15 years. “Just loss for words right now.”

Jonah Leichner, a friend of Mitchell and Harin’s, described Jersey as a great companion and person with a beautiful soul.

“[Mitchell] was talkative, cared about everyone around her,” Leichner said. “Haley [Marin] was shyer, but she cared about everyone. They touched our lives, a huge part of this community. This has really struck a lot of people who grew up with them.”

In a Tuesday post on Twitter, Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman highlighted a GoFundMe page that he said raised $40,000 in its first 18 hours.

“Thank you, thank you, once again, for stepping up with your support Barrie – and to everyone across the country who is helping too,” Lehman wrote.