We, the undersigned, are calling on the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO), our local MPP, and municipal officials to take immediate and effective action to prevent further injury and loss of life at the intersection of Highway 6 and Wellington Road 22 (Nichol 8th Line) — known locally as the Cox Creek intersection.

This intersection has become a notorious danger zone in our community. Drivers and families have paid the price — repeatedly.

A history of loss and unresolved risk
Historical reporting confirms fatal collisions at this intersection in 1978 and 1999. Since launching this petition, a local resident has also come forward to report that his mother died in a collision at this intersection in 1990. 

A 2021 Wellington Advertiser article reported that the Ministry of Transportation planned safety improvements at this intersection by 2023. Those improvements were not implemented. What followed was not unforeseeable. In December 2023, another fatal collision occurred.

These confirmed fatalities, together with additional community-reported historical loss and dozens of serious collisions, demonstrate that safety concerns at this intersection span multiple generations and remain unresolved.

⚠️ Multiple fatalities
🚑 Multiple airlifts to trauma centres
👨‍👩‍👧 Families — including young children — repeatedly injured, both directly in collisions and through the lasting psychological trauma of losing parents and loved ones who never return home.

Local hospital staff and police consistently recognize this intersection as dangerous. As one hospital worker recently said: “We see people from that intersection at least weekly.”

Lived experience and recent collisions
On December 18, 2025, I and my two children were T-boned at this intersection. This is in addition to the following incidents we are aware of:

• May 2015 (as shared in petition comments) — A multi‑vehicle collision occurred when a driver pulled out from Wellington Rd 22 into southbound Hwy 6, striking an oncoming vehicle and then a third car waiting at the stop sign. All vehicles were totaled and thrown into adjacent fields. A child involved required psychological support due to trauma. The family later wrote to the MTO and their MP but were told the intersection did not meet criteria for traffic signals — a response given over a decade ago.

   

• May 18, 2022 — A vehicle turning left from Hwy 6 onto Wellington 22 was rear-ended at full speed, pushed into oncoming traffic, and nearly struck a hydro pole.

   

• December 29, 2023 — Fatal collision

   

• October 30, 2024 — Rollover crash

   

• November 27, 2024 — One person airlifted; others transported by ground ambulance

   

• May 23, 2025 — A publicly posted video shows police, ambulance, and tow trucks responding to an apparent collision at the intersection. 

• June 24, 2025 — Family of four, including small children, T-boned at the intersection (witnessed firsthand)

   

• July 13, 2025 — Three-vehicle collision reported in Fergus Community News

   

• July 18–19, 2025 — Three separate collisions at the intersection in just over 24 hours

   

• October 13, 2025 — Multiple people injured; at least one airlifted to a Hamilton trauma center

   

• December 18, 2025 — Parent and two children T-boned; all occupants injured

   

• December 25, 2025 — Serious collision on Christmas Day

• January 30, 2026 — Two separate collisions reported at the intersection on the same day (one in the morning; one later in the afternoon). 

• January 30, 2026 — Near-miss involving a school bus carrying children. In the early evening, a vehicle turning right from Nichol Road 8 (Wellington 22 on the West side of Hwy 6) misjudged the available gap and entered Highway 6. The driver was unable to accelerate to highway speed quickly enough and moved into the left lane to avoid being rear-ended by the school bus.

Other school bus incidents involving children

School bus drivers have also reported serious incidents at this intersection, including a school bus being T-boned after a vehicle failed to stop, and another incident where a driver struck a school bus and fled the scene. Children were on board during at least one of these events.

This is no longer a private concern. It is a public safety failure.

Enough is enough.

Failure to act
Despite years of warnings and correspondence to the MTO and local officials — dating back at least to 2021 — no meaningful interim safety measures have been implemented. Action could have been taken. It wasn’t.

We demand immediate action
We demand that the following interim and long-term safety actions be implemented without delay:

1. Milled (ground-in) rumble strips on east / west approaches to the intersection
2. Designation of left-hand lanes on Hwy 6 as LEFT-TURN-ONLY, with clear signage and pavement markings
3. Electronic speed feedback signs to address chronic speeding
4. MTO coordination with GPS and navigation providers (e.g., Google Maps, Waze, Apple Maps) to discourage routing traffic through Wellington Road 22 / Nichol 8 and redirect through-traffic to safer Highway 6 access points
5. Advance warning signs with flashing lights
6. Adequate lighting at all four corners of the intersection
7. Speed reduction through the intersection zone
8. Active OPP presence for enforcement
9. Temporary restriction or closure of east-west movements until safety upgrades are complete
10. Evaluation of permanent redesign options (overpass, roundabout, or turn-restricted configurations)

We also demand transparency

We call for full public transparency from the Ministry of Transportation regarding:

• The number of reported collisions at this intersection
• The timeline for immediate and permanent fixes
• Why previous interim safety measures were not implemented sooner

Too many crashes.
Too many injuries.
Too many lives at risk.

The community is asking:
Don’t wait until another life is lost or another family is traumatized.
Fix the Cox Creek valley intersection now.