Petition started to change dangerous intersection west of Edmonton after fatal accident

EDMONTON -

A deadly crash at an intersection along Highway 16A west of Edmonton has prompted residents in the area to call on the provincial government to change it to help prevent future accidents.

On Monday night, RCMP responded to a collision involving two vehicles on Highway 16A near Range Road 20 that left one man dead and a woman injured.

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Keshia Korrall and her sister were some of the first people on the scene of Monday’s accident.

“The young man was pinned in the vehicle so we couldn’t pull him out or anything like that,” Korrall recalled.

“I just stayed with him,” she added. “Told him my name was Keshia and that I was there to help and just tried to keep him with me as long as I could. I told him help was on the way.”

Korrall says officers told her that Monday’s crash was the second one to happen at that same location in less than a week.

“They get multiple calls out here every year and he was visibly upset that they have to come out here all the time,” she said.

Korrall decided to start a petition to get the province to change the design of the intersection. She first posted it in an online community forum and was overwhelmed by the response.

“The amount of comments I had was over a 100 and I was like, ‘Obviously this is a problem.

“Numerous people that have reached out to me on Facebook say they completely avoid this intersection because they’re scared of it.”

CHANGES TO INTERSECTION NOT IN CURRENT CAPITAL PLAN

Janice Neill lives near the intersection and told CTV News Edmonton she witnessed many accidents over the past decade.

“Roads aren’t marked well enough,” Neill said. “Today, when I was just coming here actually, coming home, I pulled across and looked to see and all of a sudden in my rear-view mirror there were three cars all in the same middle of the intersection.”

Rob Williams, press secretary for the minister of transportation, said from 2013 to 2017, there were a total of 29 collisions at or within 500 metres of the intersection. He added that 25 people had been injured in those accidents and there were no fatalities during that time period.

"A functional planning study was completed in 2014 which identified a new interchange at Highway 16/Range Road 20, and relocating the Highway 16A/Range Road 20 intersection and constructing services roads," Williams said.

"The recommendation is not part of the current capital plan," he added. "Alberta Transportation receives about 1-2 complaints a year about this intersection."

For Neill, there need to be lights or rumble strips installed – at a minimum.

“We need something,” she said.

Korrall believes the safest option is an overpass.

Her petition has received more than 1,700 signatures.

“If I have to sit on that cement pad with a sign and fast, I will,” she said, as she laughed. “I’m done. This is enough.”