Residents in the Boiestown area of New Brunswick say they need government assistance with addressing the growing number of moose collisions.
Upper Miramichi rural community councillor Dustin Munn says there's been at least nine moose/vehicle collisions in the past two months.
“I feel it's just by the grace of god that no one’s been seriously injured or killed,” Munn says, “but who's to say the next one's not going to be different?”
Some residents say it's not if, but when a moose darts onto the road, they often don't have a lot of time to react.
Munn feels government intervention is needed.
“I would like to see, first off, a bigger sign like the one they have coming out of Miramichi, with the flashing amber lights to really stress and emphasize the importance to people travelling through that this is a highly-populated moose area,” says Munn.
And Munn feels getting the government's attention on the matter should be easy, with Transportation Minister Bill Fraser living on the route and travelling along it several times a week.
Munn wrote to Fraser about the issue, saying there's been on average a moose collision a week for the last eight weeks.
“I've asked my department to do an assessment on the highway and on the number of collisions and on the traffic to see if there's anything we can do to enhance visibility and get awareness out for people who are travelling on that stretch of highway,” Fraser says.
On average, there are 400 moose collisions in the province every year. And the moose population is a healthy 31,200, according to the Department of Energy and Resource Development.
Munn would also like to see the brush along the route cut back.
“So we can get a better line of vision from the edge of the woods to the road in the case a moose does appear.”
He also thinks some public awareness wouldn't hurt, so that people know this area likely has moose lurking along the road.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
