We are creating posters, bumper stickers, and other signage that will be available to all residents to show their support.
Posters – 8.5 x 11
Click on any of the previews below to download a printable pdf. They are sized for 8.5 x 11.
Posters – 11 x 17
- My family is with me. Drive safe on 63.
- Chance takers are accident makers.
- Pray for me! I drive 63.
- How many lives will it take?
17 Comments
Cameron
May 1, 2012I can’t be there in body, but I will be thinking about this all day. It’s about time our city got upset about this so get everyone out there and let’s get er’ done. Hooyah!
Rick
May 3, 2012It’s not the highway it’s the drivers yes there are alot of equipment being hauled but this will not stop the carzies that pass you on corners or blind knolls. In my opinion what we need is more Police present they say they have over 300 Police in Fort McMurray but I have driven this highwat numerous times and never seen a cop car speed trap or car stopped. It’s like the drugs in this town the police turn a blind eye you have one highway one airport and drug deals going down in front of our eyes, nothing done. Are the police told to be slack on speeders so we have a happy commuters. Bigger highways in the states have patrols every 10 miles. You do this which is what your tax dollars do force these mine sites to get behind by petition them publically and the highway will get safer, not perfect with these Syncrude Steve’s in this town but safer.
Dan Backs
May 31, 2012Dan Backs
The biggest problem causing a delay in twinning are those who argue that the only problem is the drivers. Admittedly there are idiot speeders and foolish slowpies but there are very real problems that can only be solved by improvements in the short term and by ultimately twinning.
There are portions of the road that remain as the old gravel grade built in the 60′s and have very poor sight lines. These need to be leveled and regraded and widened.
Wildlife is returning big-time after they have been reduced for some years because of the big fires. There were times before the fires when I quit counting deer off to the side or even on 63 after I hit 300. Wildlife fences are due, at least in some portions, especially given that 40% of accidents on 63 have a wildlife component. Twinning will also give someone passing and then having a moose or deer make a move not have to take the ditch.
4000 big super-wide modules are scheduled already to travel up 63 in the next four years. A two lane country highway is simply not appropriate for moving these loads and I do not understand how on God’s Green Earth blaming the drivers is going to change this factor.
Weather makes for bad driving. WInter on 63 can give us some of the worst, but is not necessarily the drivers, it is the conditions. The recent tragedy was in bad weather. A twinned road gives an incredible and obvious increase in safety when roads are icy or the snow is blowing. Chains or snow tires should also be a requirement on 63 from Oct.15th to April 15th, like on designated difficult B.C. highways.
Policing enforcement was increased to one of the highest levels of any route in Canada after 2007 and in my many trips I have certainly seen the RCMP/Sheriff presence. Their recent 600 hour 30 squad car blitz only averaged less than 1 speeding ticket per hour but 552 sounded like a lot, even though many were 10kph overs and the average was 20kph over. The police are doing their job. Increased and heavy enforcement simply has not decreased the number of head-ons and the tragedies continue.
Traffic is often slow and if people can pick their times, 63 is an easy drive. It is the traffic surges that can make for craziness. McMurray’s population is growing quickly but the camps are bursting at the seams and will likely have more than 60,000 at the end of the year. Shift changes throw thousand s on 63 all at once. It is in this traffic that many make the poor choices. Twinning simply makes the surge times much safer.
Of course the long line-ups behind the slow loads create the biggest problems, especially if some of the other danger factors come up. Many are afraid to pass, and especially in weather it can be very dangerous to continue in the line and unfortunately many choose to get out of it quickly and pass multiple vehicles. This creates deadly situations. Twinning obviously solves this. In the short term, building more pull-outs and passing lanes and requiring those at the front of line-ups to pull over at the next pull-out will increase safety by allowing traffic to pass safely.
I would ask those that always use the simplistic argument of just blaming the drivers to quit it. They do everyone who drives 63 a disservice, delay twinning and in so doing contribute to future tragedies.
Twinning is a good investment for Alberta’s economy and for the safety and well-being of all who live and work in the Fort Mac area.
…and twinning will end the tragedies.
NicoleAuser
May 31, 2012Well said, Dan. I am going to re-post your comments as a blog post so more people will read it.
It’s becoming quite clear that the government has been framing this issue for the last few years to make the drivers look like the bad guys. It ties well into the whole notion of Fort McMurray’s “wild west” reputation. There are no solid facts that the drivers are any more reckless on 63 than they are in the rest of the province.
Unfortunately, the government has have failed to address the fact that traffic has increased by 30% in the last six years since they announced the twinning, and 250% in the last 10 years! In addition to the wide loads and wildlife hazards you mentioned, it’s a recipe for more collisions and deaths.
Dan Backs
May 31, 2012It is a great thing, a very important thing that will save lives what you are and others are doing to keep the issue alive in the public sphere. So often in the past it has become an out of sight, out of mind issue for decision makers in the rest of the province because when they go to McMurray, if they do, they fly. There is also a tendency to treat 63 just like a rural area in Southern Alberta, where there are roads every second mile or so and people clamouring to get them all paved. Many are.
Sheila George
May 1, 2012I will be thinking of you all, can’t be there. But I support you 100% . we do need this highway fixed for safe driving.
Edward
May 1, 2012I thought it would be a good idea for Premier Redford, and the minister of transportation to PERSONALLY drive up
to Fort McMurray on the afternoon of May 4th, 2012, and stay overnight to attend the protest so they could answer
questions from those in attendance. Perhaps if some individuals in the legislature had to see what Fort McMurray
residents contend with on a friday afternoon drive on the 63, perhaps they might have some understanding. Like I
said they could drive like many others have to, and see what it’s like when you don’t have the luxury of using air travel
to get up to Mcmurray.
NicoleAuser
May 1, 2012Hi Edward – we agree with you. Stay tuned for a news release tomorrow or Thursday.
Jen
May 1, 2012That is a great idea, many of the people making the decisions have never driven that highway at all and certainly not regularly like the families who live there. Alison Redford says she’s different than other politicians, let’s see!
Albertadave
May 1, 2012If Premier Redford, and the minister of transportation drive up this Highway on a Thursday afternoon ..I will gladly pay for their gas and lodgings…A small price to pay ..To get an Important point across..
Gary John
May 1, 2012This is the thinking that has to be changed !!!!!!!
Province unlikely to fast-track 63 twinning: Horner
alberta_legislature
4:52 pm in News by tyler.king
Deputy Premier Doug Horner tells the CBC that the province is unlikely to fast-track the twinning of Highway 63 in the wake of last week’s crash.
Horner says environmental sensitivity, terrain, and avoiding “disrupting the traffic patterns” mean that pouring more money into the project will not allow it to proceed any faster.
The CBC report suggests that Horner believes twinning 30 to 40 kilometres a year is the better strategy.
Wildrose leader Danielle Smith says the government has broken its promises to make 63 a priority in past.
Premier Alison Redford has yet to make any public comment on the highway since last Friday’s crash.
Published April 30, 2012
Anna Schuler
May 1, 2012I agree, Hwy 63 needs to be twinned NOW. I lived in Grassland in the mid-1960; and I remember many local farmers went up to Fort McMurray to work on the road. I first drove on the Highway in the late 1960′s. Since then I have driven on it numerous times because I had a son working up there. The last time I drove up there was last summer – It has now been over 40 years since I first travelled Hwy 63 and personally I don’t think there is much improvement!! Shame on the Government of Alberta for not twinning the Highway. Maybe we can get the “transation money” from the MLS to help pay for the Twinning of the Highway. Maybe Ray Danyluk gave donate the money he will be getting to the construction of the Highway. Or is he using the money to get an hair cut and a shave because he is now unemployed?
mac
May 1, 2012Safety should always be number one regardless of any reason or situation.
While I’m pro-LRT and want more to be built both in Edm and Cgy, i am willing to put those on hold if it means that any death rate of any kind can be dealt with and reduced.
Mary Thomas
May 2, 2012There are various streams of thought and process that have been initiated by this campaign. The first is: Do we have an alternative to twinning the highway? Since we don’t, that shd be step 1. Step 2 would be to get some of the travelers off the highway, reduce traffic, who might not really care about driving for 5 hours. We could look at alternative modes of transportation. Why not look at MagLev trains between Camp, Plant sites, Fort Mc and Edmonton? If there is any way ppl could get their cars onto the train and drive it once they reach Edmonton, I am sure many ppl would really prefer that, not the regular medium gauge which takes 12 hours to reach. The third step would be to improve monitoring and surveillance on the highway, putting up barricades where ppl shdn’t cross the yellow lines, speed-breakers, to reduce the speed, radars, police patrolling, whatever it takes to get ppl moving safely. If these steps are taken care of we can really have a safe highway, no more lives lost mindlessly.
Edouard Trippe De Roche/Keltie Paul
May 2, 2012Highway 63 was not built to anticipate the volume and traffic load post 1995. The narrow road does not allow for driver error or drivers who risk all of our lives by ignoring traffic laws or even common-sense safety practice, e.g. allowing for weather/wildlife potentials, speeding, distracted driving, driving while fatigued or intoxicated, etc. There are lots of best practices to reduce vehicle injury risks, including traffic calming, increasing visual presence of traffic sherrifs, lowering speed limits, increasing traffic violation fines, etc. However, the best that we can do immedietly is twin the highway to accomodate the current and future traffic volumes and size that the economic generator of Alberta needs to have to maintain our quality of life. Edouard Trippe De Roche and Keltie Paul
Susan Stuckey
May 14, 2012My family and I drove down Hwy 63 this past weekend. It was encouraging to see the amount of Police enforcement on the highway stretch bewtween Fort McMurray and Grasslands. It’s a small step towards a safer highway but I look forward to the day it’s twinned. To those drivers who ride the shoulders to let people pass, the road isn’t big enough for 3 vehicles in a lot of sections. You force people to take risks and cause traffic to back up. Then people get frustrated and drive stupid. If you need to drive slower than the speed limit , pull over completely until the road is clear. We all need to get we are going safe.
Ryan
December 29, 2013Why is there no 881 talk or awareness??