TORONTO — Lynn Barlow would like to see more roadside washroom facilities along Canada’s highway network and she won’t rest until, well, it becomes more convenient.

She’s looking for other truckers, other motorists, or anyone who’s interested really, to sign a petition urging the Ontario Department of Transportation to provide more facilities along the highway.

Barlow and her husband Terry have been driving team for 13 years. The Manitoulin Transport company drivers are based out of Calgary and typically run a lane between Calgary and Toronto, before heading home through Edmonton.

It’s a lot of country to travel and Barlow says the number of washroom facilities along the way — particularly in Ontario — is inadequate, and only getting worse.

"The private sector isn’t always open 24 hours a day," says Barlow. "And, more and more of these truck stops are closing at night because of the recession." 

So far, 400 drivers signed a petition that urges for
more rest stops between Ontario and Alberta.

Even locating roadside pullouts can be problematic at night. While traveling at 90 km/h, Barlow says it’s difficult to spot the turnouts in time to pull over.

"They need more road signs indicating the pullouts, so there’s more warning," she tells todaystrucking.com. "At night, you can’t see them in time unless you want to slam on the brakes and bounce the other driver around in the bunk."

Barlow is prone to kidney infections and not having to hold her bladder for long periods of time helps lessen the chances of an infection. But rather than get dismissed as, "some whiny lady who doesn’t want to hold it," Barlow is hoping the need for more rest areas — for reasons ranging from bathroom breaks to complying with hours of service safely — appeals to enough people that the ministry will take notice.

Barlow began leaving petitions out at truck stops across Canada on April 17. She’s left them at a handful of places in Ontario, including the Husky in Mississauga, Ont. and the Family Kitchen Restaurant in Wawa, Ont.

A fellow driver even took a handful of them out to Moncton and there are a few other locations where the petitions can be found.

In just three weeks Barlow has collected 400 names and plans to leave the petitions out for three months before making her case.

She points out that it’s not just a benefit for motorists who need to make stops, but for improving the scenery and cleanliness of the highway system. Drivers wouldn’t have to relieve themselves at scale lots and she figures there would be fewer bottles filled with urine thrown into highway ditches.

Alberta recently revealed plans to improve the network of rest areas in that province. The Transportation Department even solicited the advice and opinions of the trucking community to determine where and what was needed. 

Ontario, meanwhile is in the process of upgrading 23 of its rest areas along Highways 400 and 401 with the help of the private sector.