Commuters who were caught for hours in a traffic jam caused by a fatal crash west of Calgary may have been relieved to finally see a detour around the scene, but they were shocked when they were told to pay up.
On Monday afternoon, a fatal crash involving a minivan and semi-truck shut down the eastbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway near Scott Lake Hill.
The crash claimed the life of an 86-year-old woman and sent six others to hospital.
Many drivers spotted a road on Morley as their way to avoid the traffic jam, but when they tried, they were met by two people demanding a $20 toll to let them pass.
Aaron Two Young Men lives in the area, and said that he wasn’t impressed with his neighbour’s scheme.
“That’s not right. That’s not right to me. It’s just a road. People are trying to get home to where they’re going, that’s it.”
However, officials with the Stoney Nakoda First Nation say that people cutting through their land is a common problem. Those wanting to prevent people from using it as a detour had every right to do so, they say.
“In my opinion, nobody did anything wrong in collecting a toll. Nation members own the reserve and people were illegally, I want to emphasize, illegally were on the reserve, using it as a detour route. So, the fact that a few nation members pocketed a few dollars doesn’t bother me at all,” said Ken Christensen, tribal administrator.
The RCMP said it can’t divert traffic onto a private road, and Alberta says that since the road does belong to the First Nation, it decides who can and can’t use it.
