Hundreds of people rallied in Fort McMurray, Alta. Saturday to demand the province accelerate the twinning of Highway 63 more than a week after seven people died in a horrific crash.
The protest began around 11 a.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) at MacDonald Island Park where organizers held a moment of silence for the victims of the latest deadly collision.
Protesters held signs that read "Twin 63" and "Pray for me, I drive 63" with many in attendance holding children or pushing babies in strollers.
Rally organizer Nicole Auser said nearly 3,000 people have indicated on Facebook that they plan to attend. A petition will be on hand for attendees to sign.
The mother of a man killed on the highway on New Year's Eve will be speaking, she said.
"Once the highway is twinned, the northbound lanes and the southbound lanes will be separated," Auser told CTV Edmonton Friday.
"So in the case of driver error, there won't be a fatal head-on collision like there has been so many times before," she said.
Auser hopes the protest will help spark positive change on the highway that's seeing increased traffic as the province's oil sands boom around Fort McMurray.
The highway links the city with Edmonton.
The province has been under pressure since the April 27 head-on crash between two pickup trucks that killed seven people, including a local pastor, his wife and two-year-old son.
The couple's three-year-old son, Timothy Wheaton, was pulled from the wreckage by passersby and survived.
Three people in the other vehicle, including an 11-year-old girl, perished in the fiery collision.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford said Wednesday that once she appoints a new cabinet, the minister of transportation will be asked to make the twinning of the highway a "top priority."
Redford didn't respond to an invitation to attend Saturday's protest in Fort McMurray, organizers said.
The province's deputy premier, Doug Horner, told CTV Edmonton the highway twinning work has to be done on marshland, which is slowing progress on construction.
The province announced in 2006 that it was going to twin the 240-kilometre stretch of road, but only 33 kilometres have been built to date.
