Contractor didn’t properly erase road markings raised in Westboro crash trial, inquest told [Video]

• Stream the inquest live here. 

A “construction deficiency” that occurred months before the fatal Westboro bus crash is resurfacing at the coroner’s inquest into the January 2019 tragedy.

On that afternoon, a packed OC Transpo double-decker slammed into the Westboro Transitway bus shelter. Three people — Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek — died in the crash. Many others were injured, triggering a flurry of lawsuits.

While the city accepted civil responsibility for the crash, the bus driver was charged with 38 counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily harm. She was acquitted of all of them in a judge-only trial in 2021.

At the trial, the driver’s defence team argued that temporary orange road markings leading to the station were confusing and played a hand in what happened.

The lines had been painted in the summer of 2018 to redirect traffic during lane closures. But by the time of the crash, they had become visible again …