Local group pushes for big rig ban on Highway 8

CALGARY – A local group wants the province to ban big rigs from using Highway 8, after a deadly crash over the weekend.

A 61-year-old Calgary man was killed on the busy roadway on Saturday, when police say he pulled out to pass another vehicle and collided head on with a semi-trailer.

The group ‘Not on 8’ has been fighting for a ban of heavy trucks on Highway 8 since August of 2013, after the death of two 18-year-old boys in separate crashes on the road just days apart.

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Both incidents involved head on collisions with semi-trailers.

The highway is a two lane, undivided rural road that the group says was never designed for big rigs. They want semi-trailers to be banned from the highway, and to instead use Stoney Trail, which is a fully divided, four lane and six lane highway.

The group has even started a petition asking for the removal of heavy trucks from Highway 8.

However, the Alberta Motor Transport Association says banning big rigs from the highway is not something that is being considered, and Transportation Minister Ric Mciver says that twinning the highway is not in the province’s three year plan.