By George Lee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Highway construction that improves traffic safety near Tofield is scheduled to begin in 2028, the province confirmed in a recent statement.
Devin Dreeshen, the UCP’s minister of transportation and economic corridors, said a 19-kilometre overlay of Highway 14 west of the town is in the design phase.
As part of the work, the province has reviewed key intersections “to ensure they meet current and future needs,” Dreeshen said in an emailed statement.
“Improvements will include upgraded turn lanes and better traffic flow to reduce delays and improve safety,” he said.
“We’ve also completed a passing lane study for a 10-kilometre stretch in the area,” said Dreeshen’s statement. “These passing lanes are about creating safe, predictable opportunities to pass, and preventing serious collisions.”
In the legislature, Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely said Highway 14 east of Edmonton is an important and concerning route for constituents and others. The highway is a major trade corridor that also happens to connect local drivers and their passengers to farms, jobs and services.
Lovely said constituents “frequently raise concerns” about large truck congestion and a lack of safe passing opportunities.
Families, farmers and truckers are “sharing the same two lanes, which can lead to some frustration,” she said, noting that passing lanes are “a proven way to reduce pressure and improve safety on busy rural highways.”
Provincial numbers reveal that since 2019 more than 1,600 collisions, 70 of them causing injuries, have been reported along the entire 245-km length of Highway 14. The collisions have resulted in 12 deaths.
Almost all of Highway 14 is built to the standard for two-lane, undivided rural highways, connecting the Anthony Henday ring road to the Saskatchewan border.
“Obviously, any loss of life on our roads is very serious and something the department does a very thorough investigation of to see the cause of accidents,” Dreeshen, the member for Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, said in response to Lovely’s questions.
“We do everything that we can to try to prevent future accidents.”
Two range-road intersections serve as southside entrances to Tofield, a town of about 2,000 people.
The roads create “two very important intersections that we’re looking at improving,” said Dreeshen. “Obviously this will improve safety in this region.”
He told the legislature: “We know that if we make the proper investments at the right time, we can help prevent accidents. That’s something that we’ll continue to do as a government.”
