Residents call on province to increase safety at busy Parkland County intersection

EDMONTON- Residents are demanding something be done to increase safety at what they call a notoriously dangerous intersection in Parkland County.

“We have at least one fatality a year, sometimes more,” said Cara Langille-King. “It’s tragic.”

The intersection Langille-King and many others are concerned about is at Secondary Highway 627 and Secondary Highway 770, southwest of Stony Plain. Most recently, two people were killed at the intersection when the vehicle they were in collided with a semi truck.

“They were neighbours, a mother and her daughter,” said Langille-King.

Officials with Alberta Transportation say the busy intersection does have a slightly higher than average collision rate.

“What we’ve found over the years is that there has been a tendency for people using Highway 627 to not stop at the stop sign and proceed through,” said Trent Bancarz, a spokesperson with Alberta Transportation.

“The way the land is slopped is an issue as well because you just come up on the intersection and it’s right there… the stop sign is right there,” Langille-King added.

She says motorists need to pay more attention, but believes the province should also be doing more to increase safety at the intersection.

“We have done a number of improvements to that intersection such as oversized stop signs, we put beacons on top of the oversized stop signs, we installed rumble strips, we put ‘stop sign ahead’ warning signs, and we put ‘important intersection ahead’ warning signs as well,” Bancarz explained.

But residents, and the mayor of Parkland County, say it’s not enough.

“While the province has jurisdiction over this intersection, Parkland County is concerned for the public’s safety at this location,” Rod Shaigec said in an emailed statement.

“This issue was conveyed to the area MLA, Mr. Ken Lemke, at a July meeting. After the recent fatalities, MLA Lemke was contacted again, asking him to advance the need for Alberta Transportation to review this intersection. With a significant increase in heavy truck traffic along this corridor and the number of serious accidents over the years, the actions taken by Alberta Transportation have proven ineffective. We are also trying to set up a meeting with (Transportation) Minister (Ric) McIver directly in hopes of persuading Alberta Transportation to redesign and fund upgrades to this intersection to ensure we don’t witness any further loss of life or serious accidents in the future.”

Langille-King hopes something is done, and soon.

“I’m not sure if they should put stop lights in, because it is a highway. I’m not sure if an overpass would work. Somebody has to invest some time, I think, and look at something.

“How many people have to die before they do something about this?”

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With files from Quinn Ohler, Global News.