Seven dead after crash on Hwy 63

[MATTIAC]

I disagree that the corporations should be responsible to help pay for public highways. the province approves all the development permits for the projects up there including manpower requirements and they collect large amounts of fees and tax on said development. The developments create a broader tax base, increased personal income (which is taxed as well) etc etc...

The provincial government has allowed Fort Mac to outgrow it's aged infrastructure with pizz poor planning on future considerations all the while sucking the milk from the teet

this is true.

 

[win]

This^^

Cyle, i was referring to Pinners "quote"

 

[Riverjet]

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.

Exactly Chunk. Its not the hwy thats the problem. Travel between Dawson Creek and Beaverlodge is the same. Nutcases behind the wheel!

 

[rsaint]

Larger bills and taxes you arent kidding lol I work in a powerhouse on site. The powerplants on the major sites combined in one day make enough to run all the plantsites and fort mcmurray for 2+days. Yet we have some of the highest distribution charges in the province. Explain that one haha

Deregulation and no balls government run by big corporations that employ middle class tax payers that cannot afford to quit and the saying goes death and taxes.

 

[JayBec]

i think its all a combination of things, i think they should make more passing lanes for when we meet up with the Big Haulers, once the hwy gets twinned ( if it happens ) it will not change anything at all, people that are aggressive drivers now wont change they will stay the same or get worse cuz their will be more blacktop for them to play on,i believe all conditions play a factor in the accidents, but above all else its the drivers, not bambi or there wildlife or stelmach, i say its 98% driver error, ive driven that hwy many times...one thing i do have to admit, the quick fixes have to change quit sucking the tax payers money to do a chit job cuz u know it wont last and do the repairs right the first time..

 

[Trukker]

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.

Exactly my thoughts when I travelled that HWY . It's speed and erratic driving plus the road can get greasy with weather at times but WTF are the Sherriffs?

 

[etecheaven]

this hiway has always been dangerous but is had settled down for a bit, now that it is starting to get busier up here it is getting back to what it used to be. there is 44km ready to be paved but when that will happen is unknown to me. I sure hope that allison redford will give back the funding that she just took away for the project.

Ledcor has been awarded the contract to pave the full section north of wandering river. Our company will be doing some earthworks under them. The contract allows 2 years to pave the full length, Ledcor has told me they are trying to complete it all this year. Construction starts May 9th. Both trucks stops will be completed as well.

Cheers

 

[satcat]

My condolences go out to all the families involved...I agree with Bandit 100%...I have driven this road [FONT=arial, sans-serif]hundreds[/FONT] of times, It's [FONT=arial, sans-serif]straight[/FONT] and wide with with well engineered [FONT=arial, sans-serif]curves[/FONT] ..881 is an [FONT=arial, sans-serif]awesomely engineered [/FONT] highway too. I drove up to Ft Mac one time, during a wicked snowstorm after dark on 63. Very little traffic, no tire ruts to follow. It was so bad that I actually had to completely stop, 2 or 3 times because I couldn't tell where I was on the road ...[FONT=arial, sans-serif] Everything[/FONT] was totally white. Then I saw approaching headlights in the distance, I aimed my car at them, ... I saw no less than 20 vehicles off the road that night....Some rolled down huge embankments..The point is ; I made it through the worst conditions ever on Hwy 63..Because I slowed down and drove smart..

 

[MATTIAC]

My condolences go out to all the families involved...I agree with Bandit 100%...I have driven this road hundreds of times, It's straight and wide with with well engineered curves ..881 is an awesomely engineered highway too. I drove up to Ft Mac one time, during a wicked snowstorm after dark on 63. Very little traffic, no tire ruts to follow. It was so bad that I actually had to completely stop, 2 or 3 times because I couldn't tell where I was on the road ... Everything was totally white. Then I saw approaching headlights in the distance, I aimed my car at them, ... I saw no less than 20 vehicles off the road that night....Some rolled down huge embankments..The point is ; I made it through the worst conditions ever on Hwy 63..Because I slowed down and drove smart..

How many did you stop and help?

 

[Summiteer]

Larger bills and taxes you arent kidding lol I work in a powerhouse on site. The powerplants on the major sites combined in one day make enough to run all the plantsites and fort mcmurray for 2+days. Yet we have some of the highest distribution charges in the province. Explain that one haha

Ralph Klein and De-regulation....Then partial regulation.

 

[Summitric]

the news tonite said they are only going to pave another 30 to 40 kms this year......... said they are trying to gather money every year to pave more....... hmmmmmmmmmm, so why can't they take the almost 1 billion dollars required to pave the twinning out of the heritage trust fund that is now over 10billion dollars ..... has anyone put that bug in their ear? the government currently uses the interest(skims it off the top) as a spending slush fund, so why not put it to good use in infrastructure to save lives!!!!

 

[white6]

Hwy 63 Worst conditions ever? Thats a bit much of a statement/assumption to make isn't it satcat?

And like mattiac said, How many did you stop to help? Especially being such drastic conditions. I've been in the ditch, not a pleasant place to be. The person who stops to help you is immensely appreciated.
And would the 'smart' thing not have been to hit the highway in the first place? Check weather and road reports before leaving? Surely police would of highly recommended it not be travelled.

881 is a nice highway in the summer, it has no shoulders and sharp ditches, very unfriendly for winter. Lots of semi traffic, heavier moose population/movement around the road as well. Plus it puts you half hour or so out of the way if heading south to edmonton or so on so forth.

Either way this highway should be twinned. It will save lives, many lives. Never mind the fact that we greatly fuel the provinces and the countries economy, why not do something to help protect the people providing that.

 

[Bandit]

Just on my way home tonight, heading north at km 33, a new red dodge with some dirt bikes in the back passed me going uphill on a solid line and a car came over the crest of the hill heading south. Nice to see that people learn.

Not that I was driving slow either, doing 105km/hr, but apparently he was in enough of a hurry to warrant taking a chance on the hill.

 

[Pinner]

The next day...

Fort McMurray, Alberta – On April 28, 2012, at approximately 4:30 pm, Wood Buffalo RCMP caught up with a motorist driving in excess of 184 km/h on Highway 63 near Hanginstone Park. The driver, a Fort McMurray male, was charged under the Traffic Safety Act for his actions. The posted speed limit for that stretch of roadway is 100 km/h, and sadly the 20 year-old driver was not the only one who chose to exceed the posted maximum speed. Over the weekend, Wood Buffalo RCMP Traffic Services laid nearly 100 charges in relation to speeding offences. That brings the monthly total up to 561 speed related violation tickets.

 

[gotboost]

Just on my way home tonight, heading north at km 33, a new red dodge with some dirt bikes in the back passed me going uphill on a solid line and a car came over the crest of the hill heading south. Nice to see that people learn.

Not that I was driving slow either, doing 105km/hr, but apparently he was in enough of a hurry to warrant taking a chance on the hill.

time to pull out the duece

 

[HID power]

The next day...

Fort McMurray, Alberta – On April 28, 2012, at approximately 4:30 pm, Wood Buffalo RCMP caught up with a motorist driving in excess of 184 km/h on Highway 63 near Hanginstone Park. The driver, a Fort McMurray male, was charged under the Traffic Safety Act for his actions. The posted speed limit for that stretch of roadway is 100 km/h, and sadly the 20 year-old driver was not the only one who chose to exceed the posted maximum speed. Over the weekend, Wood Buffalo RCMP Traffic Services laid nearly 100 charges in relation to speeding offences. That brings the monthly total up to 561 speed related violation tickets.


Yuuup, all of a sudden the gestapo's decide to blitz hwy 63 and blab to the media what a bunch of hero's they are....."AHEEE....look at all the speeders we caught"......

Maybe if these AZZhat cops & sherriffs manned the area CONSISTENTLY, things would not get out of hand. I travel regulary on hwy 28 & 63 between Edmonton and Lac La Biche and the cops are practicly non-existant....very few....but as soon as there is a major accident.....Blam....they blitz the area and try to show all of us how good they are. Monday, between Boyle and Redwater, I met 7 police & sherriff patrols......7 cars in about 40 miles.....overkill???? Absolutly!!

I am not sticking up for the speeders and dangerous drivers....these douchbags need to be caught. My point is that these highway patrols need to be consistent. Don't neglect your responsibilty and then blitz the area with 50 patrol cars and then post to the media how bad things are.

 

[teeroy]

I am not sticking up for the speeders and dangerous drivers....these douchbags need to be caught. My point is that these highway patrols need to be consistent. Don't neglect your responsibilty and then blitz the area with 50 patrol cars and then post to the media how bad things are.

the reason they do it is to show it's the drivers on the road and not the highway, so the twinning demand will die down. now if this crash would have happened three weeks ago, you can guarantee it would have been a platform that one of the parties would have used to try and win the provincial election by making some ridiculous promises.

 

[gotboost]

highway 63 at its finest

 

[teeroy]

highway 63 at its finest

is there a statistic that reports the number of accidents caused by commercial transport vehicles compared to passenger vehicles? your picture, while showing an illegal act, may be misleading. most of us on the highway will run on Ladd1 and sometimes coordinate passes with a truck ahead letting a guy know it's clear. not saying that's the case here, but a possibility. I'm going to guess the fatalities caused by commercial vehicles is less.

 

[LennyR]

Yeah I know if I'm an oncoming vehicle I feel good knowing my life and my passengers lives are in the hands a road radio and Ladd 1 , which hardly ever messes up, or at risk based on somones opinion that there might be enough room. Passing on a double line is illegal. And then we get more of truck A who can run 90 kms/hr pulling out on a dotted line to pass truck B who can run 94 km/hr. Sorry man the commercial drivers are just as quilty as the non, attitude and indifference. I think the percentages of stupid between commercial and non are pretty even. Its people, some are stupid no matter what they choose as a carreer.