New traffic unit aims to improve safety

BOYLE — The province is increasing enforcement on Highway 63 to improve safety on the heavily travelled road to Fort McMurray and the oilsands.

“We see it as a lifeline for communities, but also for economic growth,” Premier Alison Redford said Saturday after a speech to about 75 local residents, police and other officials in Boyle.

Redford said the town’s new integrated traffic unit is part of the province’s $1-billion commitment to improve safety on Highway 63.

The new unit will see 12 RCMP officers and four sheriffs work together to improve the behaviour of drivers on Highway 63 and Highway 881.

The unit will target problem areas where there have been crashes.

“There were a number of very serious accidents where, unfortunately, people died. It was obvious to us and many others that we needed to have an increased profile out here,” said Rick Taylor, chief sheriff of Alberta Sheriffs.

He said the biggest problems on those highways are the tendency of drivers to speed and pass when it isn’t safe.

Though those problems are evident on other highways, Taylor said that since 2007, injuries and fatal collisions on Alberta’s highways have fallen 25 per cent because of increased enforcement and education.

The integrated traffic unit program began in 2010. There are 27 traffic units across the province.

“We already know that it has had an impact,” Redford said. “We know that the education has been important and people understanding they need to drive responsibly.”

Safety on Highway 63 has been a concern for years.

There have been at least 150 fatalities on the road since 1990, most caused by headon crashes.

Frustration among Fort McMurray residents and others who travel the highway boiled over last year just days after the provincial election when seven people died in a fiery head-on crash.

After protests in Fort McMurray demanded the province twin the entire route, Redford appointed government MLA Mike Allen, who represents Fort McMurrayWood Buffalo, to pinpoint the changes that needed to be made.

The 22 recommendations in Allen’s June 2012 report included proposals to speed up plans to twin the road and increase enforcement.

The police presence was strengthened in October and the government unveiled a $778-million plan to fast-track the twinning a 240-kilometre stretch between Fort McMurray and Highway 55 near Grassland.

This year, Alberta Transportation expects to see almost 60 kilometres of grading finished and major tree-clearing efforts. Eight new passing lanes also are expected to open this summer.

Drivers will see 250 pieces of equipment and more than 400 workers on the highway this summer tackling the project, which includes bridge construction and paving.