Two killed in taxi crash on deadly stretch of Highway 19
Devon mayor wants province to twin ‘extremely dangerous’ road
Two people are dead after a taxi crossed over a highway centre line and was stuck by two pickup trucks early Friday near Devon.
Witnesses reported that a Barrel Taxi travelling east crossed over the centre line and was struck by an oncoming pickup travelling west.
The taxi spun around on the road and was hit on the passenger side by another oncoming pickup truck. Both the driver and passenger in the taxi were pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash happened at about 7:30 a.m. on Highway 19, east of Highway 60.
RCMP blamed driver error and slippery road conditions for the collision. The names of the victims had not yet been released Friday evening.
Devon Mayor Anita Fisher said plans to twin the stretch of Highway 19 where the crash occurred have been ongoing for years.
“It has been an extremely lengthy discussion. We’re working on our second decade as a community trying to see Highway 19 twinned,” Fisher said.
“We’re getting closer and we’re encouraged by that, but events like today’s crash, and a head-on collision on the highway earlier in the week, really hit home.”
The 15-kilometre stretch of highway is “extremely dangerous,” Fisher said, due to a high volume of traffic that includes many large commercial and industrial trucks travelling to and from Nisku.
Fisher said the twinning of the highway has been listed on Alberta Transportation’s three-year construction program in the past but was taken off for a variety of reasons. But this summer, the province spent $4.5 million to move a sour gas installation in preparation for the work. That’s encouraging, Fisher said.
“We know we’re getting closer to the top of the list. We’re sure looking forward to the day where we see that highway named to the threeyear plan and start to see construction.”
Alberta Transportation spokeswoman Jeanna Friedley said the proposed third runway at the Edmonton International Airport is affecting the route’s alignment, which has not yet been finalized.
“We’re in the design stages for twinning the highway,” Friedley said. “It’s an important route and we’re committed to continuing to improve it.”