It’s been dubbed the highway of death; Highway 63 is one of the main arteries connecting our city to Fort McMurray, and many motorists are growing increasingly concerned with its dangers.
Five people have been killed in four collisions on the highway already this year.
“Any time there is death on the highway it’s of concern,” said Constable Dan Fenton with Boyle RCMP.
The most recent deaths happened Friday night, when a 61-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were killed after the car they were in collided with two tractor trailers.
The condition of Highway 63 and its status as a two-lane road has been a major concern for many residents and workers commuting to and from the growing oilsands hub.
A newly twinned 36-kilometre section of Highway 63 was opened in October, and the province promised to accelerate twinning of the over 250 kilometre stretch of highway.
Those who travel the highway on a regular basis believe twinning the highway will help ease some of the pressure but, they say the road isn’t the only problem.
“It’s almost like people think when they’re leaving McMurray… ‘maybe I can beat my time’ and just boogie on home as if it’s a game or something,” said Ernie Stasiuk, who has been travelling Highway 63 since the early 90s.
“They’re driving their rig rockets and they’re flying up and down the highway to go to the rigs, right? And I don’t think they care,’ said John Hatch, who used to travel Highway 63 on a daily basis, but has since changed his route.
“When everyone is driving properly, there’s no issues on that highway,” said Fenton.
He says motorists need to be more patient, and change their driving behaviour.
“People are in a hurry. People don’t want to drive to the conditions of the road,” Fenton explained. “Motorists need to realize that they need to slow down and drive to the conditions of the highway. If patience was prudent, I’m sure that a lot of these things would be avoided.”
Motorists agree. They say the highway is only getting busier, and believe drivers need to change their ways.
“It’s a dangerous highway to drive at the best of times when you’ve got so many impatient people driving it,” added fellow truck driver Barry Heimbecker.
“It’s not the highway, it’s the people, they’ve got lead foot,” said Stasiuk.
With files from Jenna Bridges.