Parkland County residents urge MLAs at town hall to make changes to dangerous intersection

Parkland County residents urged the provincial government to make changes to an intersection west of Edmonton that has been the site of dozens of collisions.

About 100 residents attended a town hall at Carvel Hall on Tuesday night to share their concerns about the intersection of Highway 16A and Range Road 20 with an Alberta Transportation staff member and UCP MLAs Shane Getson and Mark Smith.

Getson, MLA for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland, said the meeting arose from a constituent's request.

Multiple fatal collisions have occurred in recent years at the intersection located about 12 kilometres northwest of Stony Plain, Alta.

Highway 16A crosses Range Road 20 at an angle, close to the Yellowhead Highway.

Locals have dubbed it "killer corner" and "the devil's intersection" and have complained about its design creating blind spots for drivers.

The province had a warning sign installed in 2017 and added more lighting in 2021.

Bryan Kwasnycia, whose 22-year-old daughter, Jade, died last year after a collision at the intersection, suggested "squaring up" the roads, so they meet at 90-degree angles, and adjusting the speed limit for vehicles coming off the Yellowhead.

He said drivers are often going 120 km/h when they exit the highway.

"When they get to the top of the hill, there's only seconds before they're at the intersection, so there's just no time to react," he said.

Residents applauded after he spoke.

Carrell Wingrave, who was hospitalized after a collision at the intersection in 2017 and still experiences nerve pain in her leg from it, said she has avoided the intersection ever since.

She said she knows two people who died because of crashes there and another who was severely injured.

"Something has to be done to make it safer, whatever that is," she told CBC News.

Michael Botros, with Alberta Transportation, told residents the government is considering moving the intersection to a safer location, closing the highway crossover, building parallel service roads and installing traffic lights.

"As soon as we know where the budget is for the project, we're ready to hire a consultant," he said.

Some residents expressed concern about closing the intersection, suggesting its dangers could just be moved elsewhere.

A retired paramedic, who has lived on Range Road 20 for 20 years, suggested building a roundabout. This would help traffic flow, but encourage drivers to slow down, he said.

Multiple residents called for quick action, saying more people could be injured or killed at the intersection before changes occur.

Getson said the government wants to make sure changes to the intersection don't have unintended consequences.

"If we pull a ministerial order off the bench, we better make sure we're not killing more people because we changed the speed limit," he said.

After the meeting, he told CBC News the government will consider residents' suggestions and keep them informed about plans.

He said designs could be shared later this year.

"We've got some loose timelines, based on emergent needs, and [we're] trying to come up with a solution that makes a ton of sense for everybody," he said.