120km/h pilot project on QEII south of Leduc beginning Wednesday

The signs are up and the coverings are coming off this week – officially this time.

A stretch of Alberta’s Highway 2, south of Edmonton and Leduc, is moving to 120 kilometres per hour.

“Well, it’s going to make the speeding tickets less because everybody is doing a buck 30 anyways,” said Darcy Doblanko, who lives near Calmar.

Strong winds last week gave motorists a sneak preview of the new signs, though they are meant to remain covered until the pilot project officially begins.

The Alberta Transportation Ministry started surveying Albertans about the idea back in November.

“Over 50,000 Albertans participated and almost 70 per cent of Albertans thought that rural divided highways should be set at 120 kilometres, because they are designed and engineered for 120,” said Minister Devin Dreeshen on March 11.

BACKGROUND: Pilot project: Alberta increasing QEII speed limit to 120 km/h south of Leduc

But not everyone is on board with the shift, including former University of Calgary civil engineering professor John Morrall.

“Is the road designed for that much? In my opinion it’s not,” said Morrall, now the president of the Canadian Highways Institute. “Some sections aren’t even good for 110. And there’s at-grade intersections on number 2.”

Morrall wrote a letter to the UCP outlining his concerns. Despite being a long-standing party member, he says he didn’t receive any response from the government.

“It’s kind of set speed limits by politics rather than by engineering,” Morrall said.

The most common rebuttal Morrall gets to his concerns: unlimited speed highways like the autobahn in Germany. But that’s an unfair comparison, he points out.

“The pavements are better for skid resistance, the vehicles are better maintained, and it takes up to three years to get a driver’s licence in Germany, so people are skilled,” he said. “Much higher skills than we have here because basically you can get your licence here out of a Cracker Jack’s box.”

Still, drivers told CityNews they are OK with 120 km/h, as long as people slow down during bad weather or heavy traffic.

“You have to drive according to the conditions,” said Stan, who lives in Leduc.

“It only takes one to screw the whole system up.”

“Pouring rain or if something is abruptly happening, then we basically just gotta keep it minimal,” added Bradan Simon, who lives near Maskwacis. “You know, think about our seniors but as well as our children too that could be in the back of our vehicles.”

The Transportation Ministry say Minister Dreeshen will be at the weigh station just south of Leduc on Wednesday morning to kick off the pilot project and take questions from reporters.