Woman loses son, ex-husband in two different crashes on Highway 63
A Fort McMurray woman who started lobbying the government to twin Highway 63 after her son was killed in a crash is now suffering another loss.
Annie Lelievre lost her son Jason, 22, in a crash on New Year’s Eve 2011. Now Jason’s father, John Lebedynski, is dead, a victim in one of three deadly crashes on the same highway over the last two weeks.
“This is a dangerous highway, you're putting too much equipment, you're putting too much oversized loads on this highway," she said. "People can't pass, head-ons are killing everybody."
Highway 63 is the main highway into Fort McMurray and the northern Alberta oilsands. The route is called the ‘highway of death” by many locals because of the large numbers of lives lost each year to crashes.
The Alberta government has promised to twin the route since 2006, but only 20 per cent of the work has been completed.
Lelievre wants the government to step up.
“How many deaths? How many people have I lost on that highway and, especially to lose my son and now my ex-husband, I'm just overwhelmed.”
Earlier this month, Premier Jim Prentice announced his government will spend $71 million to complete the twinning of Highway 63.
The work is expected to be complete by 2016.
