Alberta mulling increasing speed limit to 120 km/h on QEII, other divided highways

Speed limits on some Alberta highways could be increased. The province is conducting an online survey on the matter.

The Alberta government is considering increasing speed limits on rural divided highways to 120 km/h.

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Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said the province’s highways are designed for that speed anyway.

“Matching design engineered speeds on rural divided highways with the actual speed limit to be 120 (km/h) is something that we think would go a long way of reducing the commute times in rural Alberta,” Dreeshen told CTV News Edmonton on Friday.

Corridors the government would consider enacting this change on include:

• Highway 63 to Fort McMurray;
• Highway 40 between Nordegg and Hinton;
• Highway 43 to Grande Prairie;
• Highway 3 to Lethbridge, which is currently being twinned;
• Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2);
• Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16); and
• Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1).

Dreeshen said the government is not looking “right now” at highways that go through a municipality, or the ring roads of either Edmonton or Calgary.

His department is also considering restricting commercial trucks from using far left lanes on highways with three or more lanes. He called long queues of drivers waiting to pass a slower-moving truck in the left lane unsafe and inconvenient.

But before implementing any rule changes, the government is looking for feedback on these proposals and other ideas from Albertans via a survey that is open from Friday until Dec. 12.

If feedback is favourable, Dreeshen said the government would conduct a mini-trial by changing the limit on Highway 2 to 120 km/h.

“We’d be monitoring to see how drivers respond and react to going 120 (km/h) as a speed limit. That’s just more real-time data collection.”

Asked about the trial during an unrelated press conference in Calgary, Premier Danielle Smith said a second motivation is to reduce photo radar “fishing holes.”

“If the QEII has been built and rated for 120 km/h, why aren’t we letting people drive 120 km/h?” she asked.

Also asked how fast she drives on the QEII, the premier deferred: “Fortunately, I don’t drive anymore, for everyone’s sake.… Most people who have driven on that road, I think they have an intuitive sense that 120 km/h is probably the right speed.”

Also on Friday, the government sent letters soliciting feedback on the idea to stakeholders, such as the trucking industry and law enforcement.

Kris Fulgham, CEO of CayCan Safety Consulting in Edmonton, told CTV News he had “some concerns” regarding proposed speed limit increases.

In an emailed statement, he explained that increased speed limits on roads the province has proposed would match highway “design speeds,” but fails to consider extraneous factors.

“In reality, that is the highest continuous speed that vehicles can safely travel on the road,” he said. “That is also assuming favourable weather and traffic conditions.”

Fulgham also brought up the points of cars on the road with critical safety defects and encouraged the government to consider the usefulness of mandatory safety inspections on passenger vehicles, as is already done with heavy commercial vehicles.

He did acknowledge that requiring commercial vehicles to stay out of the far left lane in certain scenarios is “already an unwritten rule of the road,” but a “common sense move” nonetheless.

Alberta RCMP declined to comment on the topic.

B.C. has implemented a speed limit of 120 km/h on Coquihalla Highway.