Seven dead after crash on Hwy 63

[Chunk]

McMurray Musings: An Open Letter to Premier Alison Redford - Fort McMurray and Highway 63

So, then should we twin every highway to make sure people don't pass on double solids. The highway is fine, people need to stop driving so aggressively.

 

[Scuba]

So, then should we twin every highway to make sure people don't pass on double solids. The highway is fine, people need to stop driving so aggressively.

Not every highway but i would suggest any highway with the volume that 63 gets should be.

 

[Pinner]

From watching the news I see that the crash occurred on flat, straight black top... somebody was driving like a idiot. Why is everyone blaming the road?

 

[RMK Junky]

RIP to all and my condolenses to the families. Sad..sad..sad. I spent 7 days last December hauling shacks from Nisku to Shells airstrip which is north of the Ft about an hour. I hadn't traveled #63 for several years. You hear all the stories on the news and in the coffee shops about how dangerous the road is. The mentallity of people on this highway is disturbing to say the least. It just didn't matter, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Double solid lines, hills, traffic conjestion, weather conditions doesn't seem to faze the majority of drivers. The other thing I noticed was the lack of police presence. They know when the peak and most dangerous travel times are...WTF ??? There is alot of heavey traffic on the road which adds fuel to the fire. The lack of passing lanes causes the traffic to bunch. 140,000 lbs + rolling down the road at 60km or less and the rest doing 120kph + makes for a deadly mix. The most upsetting and confussing thing is how many more people have to die to make HWY 63 a safer road.

 

[jwood99]

From watching the news I see that the crash occurred on flat, straight black top... somebody was driving like a idiot. Why is everyone blaming the road?

sorry but it occured on a hill when one of the vehicles passed on a double solid going uphill, not a straight black top. How many people have to die and get hurt on this highway before something gets done

 

[Chunk]

sorry but it occured on a hill when one of the vehicles passed on a double solid going uphill, not a straight black top. How many people have to die and get hurt on this highway before something gets done

The road had absolutely nothing to do with the crash, poor decision making is what took 7 lives.

 

[Bandit]

The highway isn't the problem, it is the people driving on it. I live in Wandering River, and a can't begin to explain all the completely avoidable accidents that I have seen. For a few years I worked in Marriana Lakes and traveled this highway every day. The plain stupidity of some of the poeple on this road astounds me. I have seen people three wide while passing, and even saw four wde going up crow creek hill once! People are always ready to blame the province because they haven't twinned the highway, but nobody seems to take responsibilty for the way they drive. Yesterday on my way home heading north towards Wandering River I met what must have been a bunch of traffic going south that either was let through the accident scene, or turned around and were heading for 881. In a 20km stretch I saw at least 3 vehicles passing multiple vehicles while going around a corner and/or with solid lines and oncoming traffic! And they weren't passing because traffic was going slow either, apparently they saw a need to go 140km/h instead 110km/h.

The only thing twinning will do is reduce the number of head ons. And I say reduce becuase people will still make it across the center portion and into the other lane. Look at how bad some of highway 2 was until they put up the cable barriers in the center. What people don't realize is how much of an increase of speed there will be on a twinned road. Again look at the speeds on highway 2, and there is a much higher presence of RCMP there then here. There will still be bad accidents because it will still be the same people driving the road, just going faster!

 

[MATTIAC]

So, then should we twin every highway to make sure people don't pass on double solids. The highway is fine, people need to stop driving so aggressively.

First off I didn't write this letter rather posting it on here because it's on topic


I was born and lived in fort Mac for 24 yrs before moving to bc do I know first hand what that highway is like. I have lost family friends and co workers on it. I'm not defending that the highway is bad but more do the idiots who treat it like the Indy 500. Chit we've been calling it the mcmurray 500 for 10-15 years. The highway itself is fine for regular traffic but with everyone in their dog going to and from fort Mac on days off since half the workers don't even live in mcmurray make it way to congested especially with the heavy loads. The fact that Alberta is so wealthy and started the project to twin it how many years ago and have barely made a dent on the project completion boggles my mind.

 

[Pinner]

sorry but it occured on a hill when one of the vehicles passed on a double solid going uphill, not a straight black top. How many people have to die and get hurt on this highway before something gets done

I dunno, this is what I was referring to, same wreck ? Watch the whole video from the link below.

 

[MATTIAC]

I dunno, this is what I was referring to, same wreck ? Watch the whole video from the link below.

Theone we speak of was by wandering river not boyle

 

[Pinner]

Theone we speak of was by wandering river not boyle

Right picture/video and wrong graphic?

 

[teeroy]

I dunno, this is what I was referring to, same wreck ? Watch the whole video from the link below.

well, there is a solid line in the pic. someone passed against the solid and caused a head on....where does the confusion lay?

 

[teeroy]

The highway isn't the problem, it is the people driving on it. I live in Wandering River, and a can't begin to explain all the completely avoidable accidents that I have seen. For a few years I worked in Marriana Lakes and traveled this highway every day. The plain stupidity of some of the poeple on this road astounds me. I have seen people three wide while passing, and even saw four wde going up crow creek hill once! People are always ready to blame the province because they haven't twinned the highway, but nobody seems to take responsibilty for the way they drive. Yesterday on my way home heading north towards Wandering River I met what must have been a bunch of traffic going south that either was let through the accident scene, or turned around and were heading for 881. In a 20km stretch I saw at least 3 vehicles passing multiple vehicles while going around a corner and/or with solid lines and oncoming traffic! And they weren't passing because traffic was going slow either, apparently they saw a need to go 140km/h instead 110km/h.

The only thing twinning will do is reduce the number of head ons. And I say reduce becuase people will still make it across the center portion and into the other lane. Look at how bad some of highway 2 was until they put up the cable barriers in the center. What people don't realize is how much of an increase of speed there will be on a twinned road. Again look at the speeds on highway 2, and there is a much higher presence of RCMP there then here. There will still be bad accidents because it will still be the same people driving the road, just going faster!

they put the cables up on hwy 2 because the median is only 25' feet wide. look at hwy 43....how many head on crashes occur on the stretch between carvel and valleyview now? none....

 

[Mike270412]

Used to travel that road a lot,sure glad I don't anymore.Condolences to those involved.

 

[MATTIAC]

well, there is a solid line in the pic. someone passed against the solid and caused a head on....where does the confusion lay?

In the original post it was a vehicle passing on a solid line climbing a small hill in low visibility conditions. Struck head on at the top or something. Doesn't really matter tragic no matter how you look at it.

 

[teeroy]

In the original post it was a vehicle passing on a solid line climbing a small hill in low visibility conditions. Struck head on at the top or something. Doesn't really matter tragic no matter how you look at it.

tragic for sure, and poor driving decisions are ultimately to blame. twinning the highway will reduce the amount of deaths simply because there will be no oncoming factor. the idiots will still be idiots though, can't change that

 

[MATTIAC]

tragic for sure, and poor driving decisions are ultimately to blame. twinning the highway will reduce the amount of deaths simply because there will be no oncoming factor. the idiots will still be idiots though, can't change that

Yea exactly. It will make people drive faster but Atleast give them safe areas to pass slower and big loads. Animal hits and loss of control are both factors on that road as well.

 

[Bogger]

Condolences to all affected,

Twinning the highway will help greatly but it needs to be combined with increased enforcement. Spent 3 years working up there and the "normal" traffic flow was often 140km/h+ on a thursday evening heading south, if you were not willing to keep up with the pace people would pass anywhere.

Hand out a few excessive speed licence suspensions and impounds and the issue would calm down a lot, word travels fast in the camps and community.

Twinning the highway is a long term goal which would cost billions, in the interim hiring 4 dedicated sherrifs would cost less than 1/2 million a year and greatly reduce the risk.

 

[Summiteer]

The amount of traffic, especially truck traffic on that road warrants twinning. Personally, I think that they should twin the train tracks to Fort Mac and put shift trains and cargo on the rail to get rid of the bus and a lot of the truck traffic on the road.

 

[Bogger]

The amount of traffic, especially truck traffic on that road warrants twinning. Personally, I think that they should twin the train tracks to Fort Mac and put shift trains and cargo on the rail to get rid of the bus and a lot of the truck traffic on the road.

AND twin the highway... with the economic importance the region has to the rest of the province an increase in infrastructure spending is needed.