SICAMOUS, B.C. — An accident that claimed the lives of two truckers on the Trans-Canada Hwy. in B.C. has renewed calls to twin the deadly stretch of highway.

Merv Krywa, spokesman for Revelstoke for a Safe Trans-Canada, is appealing to the Alberta government to help B.C. lobby for funding to twin the stretch of TCH from Salmon Arm, B.C. to the Alberta border.

“Every time you see these tragedies, it just takes another little sliver out of your heart because you know they could be eliminated if the road was twinned,” Krywa tells local media.

There is hope on the horizon, however, with the B.C. government promising $355 million in highway improvements. It remains to be seen, however, how much of that will be committed to the TCH.

The Alberta Motor Transport Association (AMTA) has also spoken out in favor of upgrades along the deadly stretch. AMTA president John Finn, tells local media the stretch “most definitely should be improved.” He recommends Ottawa increase the share of fuel-tax dollars that are re-invested into roads.

That’s a sentiment being echoed by Alberta Transportation as well.

“We’ve been lobbying for more federal money for quite some time,” says Trent Bancarz, a spokesman with Alberta Transportation. “We’ve been saying…the federal government should be investing more funding into infrastructure or they should quit collecting federal (fuel) taxes.”