The Alberta government is beginning to test having speed limits of 120 km/h on divided highways.
They are beginning with a section of Highway 2 near Leduc, and Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says the data collected will affect when the speed limits get raised on other roads.
“We want this pilot to give us as much data as possible and obviously this is a very busy part of Highway 2. About a million vehicles drive by here giving us tons of data points on how drivers will respond and behave on 120 km/h speed limits. My hope is that we’ll be able to compile a whole bunch of data on this as quickly as possible.”
There are over 11,000 km of divided highways in the province, including Highway 43 connecting the Peace Region to the Edmonton area.
Dreeshen says they’re looking at having more highways twinned.
“When it comes to Highway 686 and extending that all the way to Fort McMurray is a massive project. It’s over 215 km of new road that would be built. That obviously connects so many different communities in the Northern part of the province as well as opens up the resources and everything we have in the North.”
Dreeshen says they will hopefully soon begin construction work on the highway 686 extension.
We asked a couple of questions to the minister at the press conference which you can watch in the video below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
