A series of monuments and crosses line the median and ditches around where Range Road 20 and Highway 16A meet west of Edmonton.
On Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman was killed in a two-vehicle crash around 1:35 p.m. — one year and one day after the last fatal collision in the same area.
Bryan Kwasnycia’s daughter Jade, a fourth-year education student who regularly volunteered in the community, died while trying to cross Highway 16A.
“It was really hard for us,” Kwasnycia said. “It basically stopped our world. We’re just learning to cope.”
Jade Kwasnycia in a photo provided to CTV News Edmonton. “We knew this intersection,” he said. “My uncle had an accident there. My wife actually had an accident there. School buses have been hit at that intersection.” “I was almost in an accident there,” he added. “A very nearly miss.” In fact, school buses are no longer allowed to use this intersection, with drivers having to travel half a kilometer to use Range Road 15, Kwasnycia says. Local resident Keshia Korrall was the first person on the scene on August 2 last year where another fatal accident occurred. “A lot of the first responders were very angry and said they had been there the previous week and had at least one or two accidents there a month,” Korral said. “It made me really sad,” she said. That accident killed 25-year-old TJ, a construction worker and cabinetmaker. Tim Holmes, his father, described him as a loving and uplifting man with a big personality. “It was very difficult,” Holmes said. “Know that it’s the incident that now the rest of your life will never be the same.” “With TJ’s death, at the time, I didn’t have any anger,” he added. “But I will tell you when I found out about this accident that happened (this week), God bless the family, I was angry. “I was angry about the situation, which happened (again) … to another family.” TJ holds his one-year-old son Braxton (Provided).
NO VIEWS
Korrall became an advocate pushing for that intersection to be redesigned to prevent further families from being upended, starting a petition with more than 2,800 signatures and a Facebook group with 1,300 members.
“I just got hold of the transport minister and kept pushing and pushing,” Korrall said. “They’ve made some changes, but obviously not enough to help anything.”
Kwasnycia, who has lived in the area since he was six years old, says the intersection is deadly because of the limited visibility.
Eastbound Highway 16A crests a hill to meet Range Road 20, he added, giving motorists on either side no time to react.
“It’s so dangerous,” Kwasnycia said. “Everyone around here knows.”
“Because of its angle, once you move you’re there. Neither driver has a chance to react.
“When I go and my family goes, we try to get to the intersection to have a double look.”
Korrall agreed, saying some people avoid it altogether.
“OF SIGNIFICANT CONCERN”
Alan Gamble, the mayor of Parkland County, told CTV News that the intersection has been a “high conflict area” for years.
“It’s a significant concern for Parkland County,” he said. “We continue to be concerned about the safety of this highway and intersection and call on the provincial government to address these safety issues.”
At every meeting with the province, Gamble said he reiterates the need for changes to the intersection.
“There are several range roads that connect to the highway for access, and with the growing population and increased traffic along Highway 16A, it’s more important now than ever to support the provincial government,” Gamble said.
“To provide the necessary infrastructure so our residents don’t have to cross this highway,” he added.
A sign along Highway 16A marks the intersection with Range Road 20, which locals call “devil’s intersection.” Gamble believes adding merge lanes or changing the speed limit could help address safety issues in the short term, but he would like actual service roads to collect area traffic toward the overpasses to prevent multiple lanes of the highway from crossing 16A. “We are working alongside the province, but the ultimate responsibility lies with the province and the Minister of Transport.”
“WE SHOULD DO SOMETHING”
Haydn Place, acting chief of staff to Transportation Minister Prasad Panda, told CTV News in a statement that the ministry is “currently considering options” for the intersection, including a full relocation.
“Short-term safety improvements have been made at this intersection, including an Important Intersection Ahead sign with flashing lights, a large ‘checkerboard sign’ and improved lighting,” Place said.
“Preliminary data shows that the number of collisions has decreased since the installation of the ‘Important Intersection Ahead’ sign in 2018,” Place added.
Between 2014 and 2018, there were 48 crashes at or within 300 meters of the intersection, excluding off-road and animal collisions, Place says.
Of these, 28 involved injuries and 21 non-fatal damage-only accidents. No conflict data was provided from 2019 to now.
For Korrall, these additional signs do “nothing” as clashes continue with injuries and deaths.
“We have to do something,” Coral said. “That is enough.”
“The frustrating thing is the province knows it, the county knows it, transit knows it,” Kwasnycia said. “How many more crosses are we going to put at this intersection before they do something?”
Holmes wants the province to take action sooner rather than later, no matter the cost.
“Whoever makes these decisions, (has to) really put it in perspective of putting themselves at risk and what this (intersection) is getting,” Holmes said. “You have to do something.”
“I don’t want other people to have that feeling,” he added. “If you can do anything to change, whoever makes these decisions, please make them.”
“You can’t put a sum of money on the life of a person and a family.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alex Antoneshyn and Jessica Robb
