Alberta to launch trial in 2026 increasing some rural highway speeds to 120 km/h

Traffic travels along the Trans Canada Highway past Mt. Rundle near Canmore, Alta., Monday, April 24, 2023.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The Alberta government says it will go ahead next year with a trial to up the speed limit on some rural divided highways to 120 kilometres per hour.

Last month, the province announced it was considering the move for all divided highways and invited Albertans to weigh in via an online survey.

Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen says out of the roughly 59,000 people who weighed in, 68 per cent supported increasing speed limits.

Drivers on several divided highways are currently limited to going 110 km/h, but officials say heavily used corridors, such as the one connecting Calgary and Edmonton, are designed for faster speeds.

B.C. increased speed limits to 120 km/h on at least three major highways in 2014, but later rolled back some changes due to a high number of collisions.