Hamilton’s former GM of Public Works testifies in RHVP Inquiry

Hamilton’s former general manager of Public Works, Dan McKinnon continued his testimony today at the inquiry into the buried Redhill Valley Parkway friction report.

McKinnon testified that when city council was informed about the contradictory study, some councillors were very upset.

McKinnon told the hearing today that he first learned about the Redhill Valley Parkway friction report in 2018, during what he called a hallway conversation with another city employee, Gord McGuire.

McKinnon said after that conversation he set out to talk to Gary Moore about it, Hamilton’s top engineer at the time.

“Sometimes Gary wasn’t tolerant with people who were questioning him,” McKinnon said today.

Moore testifed earlier this year that he didn’t share the report because he felt like it was half done, and had issues with some of the details, specifically the friction of the Redhill being compared to U.K. standards as Canada doesnt have standards for friction.

McKinnon testified today that he soon realized that several people knew the testing featured in the report was going to be done, but no one had been informed of the results.

McKinnon was asked if he felt the road was safe after he found out that some parts were slipperier than they should be according to U.K. standards.

“I didn’t see any evidence that the road needed to be shut down,” McKinnon said.

Months later, city council was informed about the report, and it didn’t go over well, especially with the councillors who had served multiple terms.

“A couple of them were really pissed off,” McKinnon said today. Some councillors had been questioning the safety of the Redhill for years and were always reassured it was safe and now this report was contrary to everything they had been told.

The probe continues on Monday.