Sister of woman killed on highway calls on province to twin the T.C.H.

Erika Power and Kerry Sargent, were killed in a collision on the Trans-Canada Highway earlier this year. Now, Power's sister wants the province to make the highway safer.

The fatal head-on collision occurred on the T.C.H. between Arnold's Cove and Come by Chance.

Faith Power says she believes that the accident may not have taken place had there been a divided highway in the area.

Power says her sister was in the passenger seat beside her boyfriend, Sargent, as they made their way home to celebrate Easter with their families.

"We got the unimaginable news that night that they never got the chance to make it home and both of their lives were taken from us," said Power in an interview on CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.

"She may no longer be beside me, but she will always be a part of me," Power said of her sister.

"She wasn't just someone I loved. She was woven into who I am."

Power started an online petition calling for the province reduce risk fatalities on the highway by twining its portion of the TCH. So far it has received over 3,500 signatures.

The petition argues that divided highways are safer, and result in fewer fatalities.

"Our highways are something so many of us rely on every day, and everyone deserves to make it home safely. While we can't prevent every accident, I believe changes can be made to help prevent unnecessary loss," said Power.

LISTEN | Twinning the highways would make them safer, says woman who lost sister :

According to Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Barry Petten, his staff roughly estimated that it could cost six billion dollars to twin the T.C.H. across the province.

Petten said that no life has a price tag, but "the reality is it just takes time and it takes money and it just can't be done overnight."

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Barry Petten, seen here in front of his constituency office, says his 'heart goes out' to the families of Erika Power and Kerry Sargent. (Ted Dillon/CBC)

"I think anyone out there would like to see the Trans-Canada twinned, I mean, me included," said Petten.

In 2023, the federal and provincial governments announced $306 million in funding to twin sections of the T.C.H. in the Avalon and central regions of the island. As of now, construction has not begun.

According to Petten, a tender for the construction for 15 kilometres of divided highway between Bishop's Falls and Grand Falls-Windsor will be released in the coming weeks.

As well, a tender for the construction of 40 kilometres of divided highway from Whitbourne heading west toward Arnolds Cove will be released in 2027, Petten said.

Power said those two areas of divided highway are a "good start," but that she would still like to see the rest of the highway twinned as well.

She said it still leaves a large section of T.C.H. undivided, and risks more fatal collisions.