Should the speed limit on certain divided highways in Alberta increase?

By Serena Lapointe

Highway 43, from west of Edmonton to Grande Prairie, is one of several highways in the
province that could see a speed limit change. Over the last couple of months, the Alberta
Government has been running surveys and seeking input from municipalities on the potential
switch-up, which would see speeds increase from 110 kilometres an hour to 120 kilometres an
hour.
Other highways that would see the same increase in speed are Highway 1 from Banff to the
Saskatchewan border, Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary (excluding Deerfoot Trail),
Highway 4 from Lethbridge to the USA border, Highway 16 from Hinton to Lloydminster,
Highway 63 from north of Highway 55 to Fort McMurray and beyond, and portions of Highway 3.
Combined, 2,150 kilometres of Alberta highways would be impacted by the change.
On November 13, Whitecourt Town Council received a letter from the Deputy Minister of
Transportation and Economic Corridors, Paul Smith, seeking feedback on the proposed speed
changes. Municipalities along each of the highways mentioned above received similar
engagement.
At the November 17 Policies and Priorities meeting, members discussed the proposal at length,
including concerns about there not being a speed buffer at the south/east exit/entrance of the
community (Kanata) and that a speed increase would require traffic to drop from 120 kilometres
an hour to 70 kilometres an hour as it reached the recently built stop light at Highway 43 and
33rd Street.
During the November 24 Regular Meeting of Council, Lee Hardman, Director of Community
Safety, summarized the discussions. “The committee felt that the transition zones entering the
community should be extended to allow motorists to have adequate time to adjust to the speed
limit in town,” he said.
“Extension of the transition zones would also impact surrounding Woodlands County
subdivisions; therefore, it was recommended that a joint letter from Whitecourt and Woodlands
County be drafted on behalf of the region,” continued Hardman. He said that typical transition
zones are less than 500 metres. “Our current transition zone is around 200-300 metres, from

100 to the 70/km zone in town,” said Hardman, speaking of the buffer zone at the northwest exit
of the community. Traffic heading into town from Grande Prairie transitions to 100 kilometres an
hour after leaving Whitecourt, before the speed limit increases to 110 kilometres an hour.
Councillor Brian Wynn asked if the speed limit would apply to transport trucks as well, to which
Hardman said yes. In the Alberta Government’s survey, one question correlates to commercial
trucks, asking Albertans if they feel they should be restricted from using the far-left lane on
highways with three or more lanes, such as portions of Highway 2.
Following the discussions, the Town Council decided to send a letter on behalf of the
municipality with feedback for the Deputy Minister. Rather than focusing on whether the Town
Council was in favour of raising the speed limit or not, Mayor Ray Hilts said the letter would

focus on advocacy for a safe bubble around the municipality. “We decided to deviate more to
making the highway secure approximal to Whitecourt so that we have a safer entry and exit of
Whitecourt, versus commenting on the 120.”
Mayor Hilts said asking Woodlands County to partner on the letter was also important. “I think
what we need to emphasize with our partners in Woodlands County is that the speed limit
should be lower coming into town because we have those busy intersections (with) residential,
truck traffic, new stop lights, etc. I think there’s justification to request the ministry to revisit what
that might look like and what buffer zone they would agree to. If we indicate that that’s
something we really want to look into as a Council, then I think that’s more palatable, maybe, to
the ministry,” explained Mayor Hilts. The Town Council voted unanimously to send the letter and
to ask Woodlands County to join it.
On the Alberta Government’s website, it states that there are over 64,000 kilometres of
provincial highways and that just under 12,000 of those kilometres are divided, with 2,150
proposed to increase. In the survey, which will remain open until December 12, the Alberta
Government pointed to the province’s western neighbours, British Columbia, and specifically,
Highway 5 (Coquihalla), between Kamloops and Hope, which has been set to 120 kilometres an
hour since 2014.
Comments online locally range from full support to mixed reactions to concerns about how
much faster drivers will go if they are already doing 120 km/hr now. Once the survey data is

reviewed, the Alberta Government plans to conduct a mini trial of a 120 km/h speed limit to
“Assess the impacts of higher speed limits on divided highways,” as stated on Alberta.ca. It
adds
that this trial period would include “strong monitoring to assess driving behaviour.” To do the
survey, visit www.alberta.ca/divided-highway-speed-limit-increase-survey.