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CBC
23-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Site of deadly Manitoba bus crash was studied in 2006, but a major suggested improvement wasn't completed
Social Sharing With safety upgrade recommendations for the site of Manitoba's deadliest crash set to be announced this week, CBC has learned the province studied the intersection nearly 20 years ago and chose not to fix a significant highlighted issue because of the cost. The June 15, 2023, crash left 17 people dead, after a semi and a bus full of seniors from the Dauphin area collided at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5, near Carberry. The tragedy spurred calls for the intersection to be overhauled, with residents in the area saying they had been warning of its dangers for years. The government ordered a full review of the intersection, with the aim of identifying longer-term safety improvements, and is set to announce its recommendations this week. But a 2006 study of the intersection said the median is too narrow and doesn't meet national standards — a cause of concern that still hasn't been addressed. "It's really heartbreaking that they've known this long and basically waited until there was a tragic accident two years ago to actually step up and do anything," said Jordan Dickson, whose home is just down the road from where the collision took place. CBC obtained the two-page 2006 document, which is a summary of the assessment of the intersection, through freedom of information laws. The assessment came after Carberry town council asked the province to examine the intersection, according to the report. The summary says there were 11 accidents at the intersection over a five-year period. An engineer with the provincial government's traffic engineering branch wrote in the report that rate was "below the level of concern" to meet the criteria for a traffic signal. The report didn't identify any single specific factor that contributed to the reported collisions, but there were "a number of items that may have contributed to an imperfect driving environment, thus leading to some of the events of concern," the engineer wrote. One of those concerns was the existing median width, which "doesn't meet today's design standards," the engineer wrote in the report, dated June 22, 2006. The report said the traffic engineering branch would address some identified issues — such as cutting tall grass that obstructed drivers' views, along with adding median stop bars and a divided-highway warning sign. But widening the median wasn't on the table, due "to the costs of localized improvements of this nature," the report said. Province will recommend 1 of 3 options Nearly 20 years later, widening the median is one of the three options presented in a provincial report released in January 2024. The province has earmarked $12 million to upgrade the intersection. Adding a roundabout was also presented as an option, as was a restricted crossing U-turn, or RCUT. That option would eliminate direct left turns from the Trans-Canada and going directly north-south on Highway 5. Instead, drivers would make merges and U-turns to get where they're going. How an RCUT would work at Manitoba intersection where deadly crash happened 1 year ago Duration 0:13 A restricted crossing U-turn, also known as an RCUT, is one of three options being explored to overhaul a highway intersection near Carberry, Man., where a crash killed 17 people and injured eight others in June. On Wednesday, government officials will announce their recommendation to the community at an open house in Carberry, just a few kilometres south of the intersection. A government spokesperson said it will not be the final decision. All three options have been met with protest by members of the community and local government, who argue the only real solution is an overpass. The government has previously said an overpass is not an option due to the current traffic volumes. Area resident Dickson is part of a group of concerned community members who recently organized a protest against the proposals. She worries the RCUT will be the recommended option and says it would be detrimental to the local agriculture industries in the area. She'd prefer to see an overpass built. The southwestern Manitoba area is home to many potato farmers, she said, which means during harvest, hundreds of semi-trucks cross the intersection daily to get to the McCain potato processing plant in Carberry. "For them to ask all these loaded potato … [trucks] to merge onto a very busy No. 1 [Trans-Canada] highway, possibly twice depending on if they're going east or west … they're not going to be able to get up to speed," she said. "It's just going to be more accidents on the No. 1." The mayor of Carberry says his council will voice its opposition to the RCUT at a stakeholder meeting planned Monday evening with government officials. "The long and the short of it is they don't live in this community, and they don't understand the traffic volumes, the impact that it'll have on agriculture," said Mayor Ray Muirhead, who echoed calls for the province to reconsider an overpass. 'Safety deficiencies' long known: prof Stuart Olmstead, Carberry's former mayor, first became a councillor in 2006. The safety of the intersection was something the town talked to the province about "year over year," he said. "Everybody in town has a story about the intersection. Some of them are quite tragic, some of them are scary," he said. Olmstead said the median is narrow because the intersection was designed decades ago with the idea of an overpass being built in the future. By today's standards, an intersection like the one at Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada would be built with a median wide enough to fit a truck and have a stop sign, said Ahmed Shalaby, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba. That gives a driver a safer way to cross the intersection, allowing them to safely stop at the median after crossing the first lanes of traffic. But narrower medians can be found all along the Trans-Canada Highway, he said. Fixing each one at a localized level would be tough, because "there is never a budget to do all the improvements that we desire," he said. "The safety deficiencies at this intersection have been known for a long period of time, but there hasn't been really an attempt to correct these." Shalaby says RCUTs can be an effective option, but he has concerns about one at the Carberry-area location. Vehicles from across the country drive on the Trans-Canada and drivers might be confused, he said. Currently, the only RCUT in Canada is on Highway 16 in Saskatchewan, but they are found throughout the United States. But Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor argued if the RCUT is chosen, people will get used to it. Naylor said officials gave her their recommendation on the intersection last month, but she wouldn't disclose their decision. As for the 2006 report saying the median was too narrow, Naylor said she "can't speak for a government 20 years ago." "There's lots of moving parts in government. Certainly we all wish that what happened in 2023 — that fatal collision that took the lives of 17 seniors — had never happened." Safety of deadly Carberry bus crash site was examined 20 years ago 4 minutes ago Duration 2:53 The province studied options for improving safety at the Carberry-area highway intersection that became the site of Manitoba's deadliest bus crash in 2023, but one major issue was not addressed due to cost, CBC has learned.
CBC
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- CBC
Carberry-area residents rally against plan they say won't fix intersection where crash killed 17
Around 100 people rallied Thursday evening near the intersection north of Carberry where a crash killed 17 people two years ago, protesting one of the proposals to make the crossing safer. Semi-trailer trucks and farm vehicles lined the road beside the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5, as protesters called on the province to scrap plans for a restricted crossing U-turn at the site. The protest was held at the intersection where on June 15, 2023, a semi and a bus full of seniors from the Dauphin area collided, killing 17 and injuring eight. A month later, three people were injured at the intersection when a pickup truck collided with an SUV, causing both to hit a third vehicle. Jordan Dickson, who lives beside the intersection, said she's seen a lot of accidents and close calls. "It's really scary sometimes," Dickson said. "We're always watching out there for when the [emergency] lights go by." She wants the intersection to be safer but worries community needs aren't being heard. Following a safety review, the province presented three main possibilities — a widened intersection, a roundabout or a restricted crossing U-turn, known as an RCUT. Thursday's rally was organized to send a message that an RCUT isn't the answer, Dickson said. An RCUT forces drivers to turn right, merge into traffic and then make a U-turn, instead of crossing or turning left. An RCUT doesn't make sense in an area with a lot of farm equipment and heavy truck traffic, Dickson said. "It's a recipe for disaster," she said. WATCH | How an R-CUT would work at the intersection near Carberry: How an RCUT would work at Manitoba intersection where deadly crash happened 1 year ago Duration 0:13 A restricted crossing U-turn, also known as an RCUT, is one of three options being explored to overhaul a highway intersection near Carberry, Man., where a crash killed 17 people and injured eight others in June. She says an overpass is the best way to make the intersection safer, and it's disappointing the province isn't pursuing that. If an overpass isn't possible, she would like a wider median, which was one of the options in the province's safety report. The current median is so narrow, even two-passenger vehicles can't comfortably fit. Traffic often gets back up at the intersection, because drivers wait until all four lanes on Highway 1 are clear to cross, Dickson says. "It's a very busy highway," Dickson said. "There's lots of times that when [farm] equipment's trying to get through, either they're forced to take the service road and go to the intersections either a mile east or mile west, or traffic gets pretty backed up as they are waiting to get through." Overpass needed: farmer Deborah Steen, who helped organize the rally, said spring and fall are particularly bad, and the intersection can become "complete chaos" when farming equipment crowds the intersection. "I come through this intersection multiple times a day, and it's just a nightmare at times," Steen said. She worries the RCUT will confuse drivers and push traffic onto less safe back roads. Steen also says if an overpass isn't possible, the next safest option is widening the median. Carberry-area farmer Neil Adriaansen says the intersection has been an issue for decades, and locals have been hoping for an overpass since the mid-1960s. He crosses the intersection four to eight times a day, and the size of his vehicles means he often doesn't fit in the median. If the province moves ahead with an RCUT, he'll start using back roads to avoid it, he said. "I am not taking a chance on a foggy morning, trying to merge across three lanes, and then have to turn around and do it again on the other side. That's bizarre," Adriaansen said. "I'm sure there are places for RCUTS. This just isn't it." After the last public open house about the intersection's future, Adriaansen submitted a four-page letter to the province explaining why he didn't want to see an RCUT built. It's unsafe and inconvenient, penalizing traffic travelling north-south, he said. If an overpass isn't possible, he also would support a wider median, or stoplights. Dickson said the consultation process with the province has been frustrating, with many in the community feeling ignored. A petition against the RCUT has started and is gathering local opinions about safer options, along with signatures, Dickson said. Their goal is to amplify the voices of those who use the intersection every day, she said. "We obviously want a safe intersection. We've been asking for it for years now," Dickson said. A final round of engagement will take place this spring and an engagement report is expected from the province this summer regarding the future of the intersection.
