Main article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Highway_63 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta_Highway_63)
Alberta Highway 63 is a two lane road connecting Fort Fort McMurray and Edmonton. Due to the fact it is one of the only was to get out of the Alberta Oil Sands the road is covered with trucks. There were more than 1,000 crashes on the highway between 2001 and 2005, killing 25 people and injuring 257 others. The highway has been referred to as Suicide 63 because of that.
What should Alberta do to it, it might be one of the most congested roads in Canada, but in 40 years all of the oil will be gone, and Fort McMurray will shrink to 25,000 people again, with no use for a freeway at all.
The distance of the road is 300km, so four laning it is to much of work for a road that will only need it for 40 years.
What do you think they should do?
They started twinning it in 2006 and will be done in the 2010s, so it is too late for any other idea's, but I still think that it is useless in the long term.
Doesn't matter how long they need it: if it is a safety hazard with high volume, then it should be upgraded. The upgrade should be expedited.
Since most pavement doesn't have a 40 year lifespan, I'd say do it!
However, expand it as a divided highway and when the oil is gone and the highway has deteriorated, only fix one side, close the other and make it a two lane road again.
40 years is a long time. not many roads last that long without being reconsidered, and subsequently upgraded or downgraded as necessary. I say upgrade it to a four-laner.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on May 22, 2009, 10:38:19 PM
40 years is a long time. not many roads last that long without being reconsidered, and subsequently upgraded or downgraded as necessary. I say upgrade it to a four-laner.
+1 Especially with the harsh winters.