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A fourth fatal collision in the past year on Highway 627 southwest of Edmonton has local residents calling for additional safety measures.
Early Thursday morning, a 69-year old motorcyclist died on Highway 627, between Range Road 273 and Range Road 274, after colliding with a pickup truck. The crash is the latest in a string of collisions on the highway in Parkland County over the last year.
In a news release, Parkland RCMP disclosed officers have responded to 38 collisions on Highway 627 in the last year. Four of those were fatal collisions resulting in the deaths of five people.
Robert Oliver, a retired 30-year veteran who lives just north of Highway 627, said he believes multiple intersections along the highway are ripe for accidents due to a lack of advanced green lights and speeding from drivers.
“I would love to see some changes,” he said. “I have young ones. I know eventually they’re gonna have to go on that road to go wherever they need to go for school or for work, and I hope that they can have some safe trips on that road.”
Oliver said he contacted the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors twice to ask the government to consider installing advanced green lights at the intersection of Highway 627 and Highway 60.
On July 16, a two-vehicle collision at Highway 627 and Highway 60 claimed the lives of two Stony Plain residents: a 69-year-old man and a 64-year-old woman.
“I think everybody wants to do the right thing,” Oliver said. “But I think it would be time to just look at this highway and consider how to slow down traffic but also keep moving and make it safer for everybody.”
More highway enforcement
Kevin McGillivray, detachment commander at Parkland RCMP, said the number of fatal collisions on Highway 627 has increased from last year.
“We’re working closely with the Alberta Sheriffs Highway Patrol and the Parkland County [community peace officers],” he said.
“[With] the increase of collisions that we’ve seen lately and the severity of the collisions, we are focusing enforcement actions across the detachment, on [Highway] 627 specifically over the next foreseeable future.”
Highway 627 is a provincial highway overseen by Alberta Transportation.
“Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by these collisions, and especially the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors said in a statement to CBC News.
“We are aware of the recent collisions on Highway 627 and are working closely with our policing partners as they investigate the circumstances surrounding these incidents.”
The spokesperson said the ministry will review the findings of the RCMP investigations and determine whether there are any measures that could further improve safety along the highway and at its intersections.