Could concrete barriers on the 401 have saved her fiance?

They were engaged to be married but a London womannow carriesher partner'sashes with her after he died in a 401crash she says could've been prevented.

"My world has just been a nightmare," said Kathleen Reed. "I loved him to pieces. I love him this very moment. I still carry his ashes with me every day. He was the best man I've ever met."

Gary Lent, 66, died in February while on his way to worktransporting auto parts across the province, after a truck crossed the median onthe 401 and hit the big rig he was driving.

Reed decided to moveto London from Bramptonin September. She wantedto be closer to the trial into Lent'sdeath that startsin November in St. Thomas. She said one person has beencharged with careless driving in relation to Lent's death.

The 54-year-old Reed has been activein a campaigncalling on the province to install cement barriers along a stretch of the 401known as "carnage alley." The people involvedwantthe province to install concrete barriers on the 401 between Tilburyand London, where there's only a grass median separating east and west bound lanes of the busy highway

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"I can't believe he's actually not coming back," said Reed. "Knowing that this could've been prevented with that concrete median there makes me angry."

She said Ontario's promise to install high-tension cables along the so-called "carnage alley"isn't good enough.

"The pain [of his death] surrounds me every day. I don't want anybody else to feel that. It's a pain like no other," she said. "I don't want any other family to go through the hell I'm going through."

A mother and daughter were killed in a crash last month on the 401 near Dutton after the family's van collided with a truck that crossed themedian.

Talks at Queens Park

About two dozen advocates were at Queen's park on Wednesday to attend a question and answer period with Ontario's minister of transportation.

They were armed with a petition that collected about 4,000 signatures supporting a concrete barrier.

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Progressive Conservative MPP Jeff Yurek, who was at the meeting, supported the idea of installing concrete barriers.

"They provide enough of a barricade to stop cars and trucks from inadvertently crossing over into the oncoming traffic and causing these tragedies," he said. "It's not enough unless they're going to put the cement barriers in."