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Winnipeg Free Press
26-06-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Carberry residents blast RCUT plan for Hwy. 5
CARBERRY — Residents blasted the provincial government at an open house Wednesday where for the first time the RCUT design was named as the 'preferred alternative' for the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway. The fourth round of community consultation on the intersection turned into a one-way shouting match at times, with community members fuming over the proposed change. About 150 people packed into the Carberry Collegiate gymnasium where about 30 placards and maps illustrated why, according to the province, an RCUT, or Restricted Crossing U-Turn, intersection is the best option for the intersection. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Jordan Dickson, left, and Debra Steen, organizers of the local opposition to the proposed RCUT modification to the Trans Canada Highway, voice their opposition at the community engagement meeting in Carberry, Wednesday evening. 'It is time for rural residents to get the same treatment as urban areas,' community member Debra Steen said to a representative from one of the consulting firms hired by the province. 'We're tired of getting the cheapest solution,' she said. 'You need to go back to the government and tell them this needs to be re-looked at. We demand an overpass.' The RCUT would force drivers going straight or turning left from Highway 5 to turn right before crossing over three lanes and making a U-turn 900 metres later. Drivers turning left from the Trans-Canada would be able to turn at the intersection. Community members accumulated more than 2,100 signatures saying an RCUT isn't the right option. Area residents at the open house said an overpass is what they want to see built, an option the province ruled out in the early stages of the study. 'They're laughing at us, they're saying we'll get used to it, they're saying rural lives are not worth it,' Jordan Dickson said. The province ordered the redesign of the intersection following the June 2023 collision that claimed the lives of 17 seniors. At the start of the discussion, Dickson stopped and asked the crowd if anyone from the community was in favour of the RCUT. Not a single hand was raised and a smattering of 'no's' rang around the gym. 'So why are you pushing it on us? They haven't listened to a single thing we said,' Dickson said. 'We are listening,' Donovan Toews, managing partner of Landmark Planning and Design, told the crowd. 'What I hear is local folks … don't like the RCUT design, and do want an interchange.' Toews said the project consultants, which also include the firm WSP, 'are doing our job to do proper engineering, to be objective, and to make a recommendation that we feel would be the safest and most appropriate for this location. 'Not everyone will agree with that, and we will make a recommendation.' Toews said the petition will be included with whatever recommendation the consultants make. An area potato farmer said if an RCUT does get built, it will not only be dangerous, but confusing. Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun Donovan Toews, Managing Partner at Landmark Planning and Design, answers questions from concerned Carberry and area residents at the fourth community engagement meeting regarding the proposed RCUT modification to the Trans Canada Highway at the Highway 5 intersection at Carberry Collegiate on Wednesday evening. 'We don't expect an overpass, because we don't live in the Perimeter,' said Paul Adriaansen. 'I can't even imagine this fiasco.' Steen in an interview with the Sun after the group discussion said it's important that the government knows what locals who cross the intersection regularly know. 'I think it's important that they hear locally that there is no one in Carberry that's in favour of the RCUT,' she said. 'I hope they're listening, I hope they hear us. I think we're clear.' Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead said an overpass is the only thing the town wants. 'We are strongly urging the government to reconsider and put our overpass in,' he said. According to one of the placards set up, the cost for an overpass would be $100 million or more. Dustin Booy, an official with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, said the cost for an RCUT is about one-fifth of that. 'We've seen different situations before over the years, over the decades where it's involved protests, public outcry and the government has found money,' Muirhead said. 'It's amazing how they can find money for other stuff.' He said the number of farmers and volume of big trucks that come through the area make the RCUT model dangerous. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'We just need something that's uninterrupted, and less confusion,' he said. 'If it works and it's common in the States, why do they only have one in Canada? But there's overpasses everywhere else.' Currently, the only RCUT intersection in Canada is near Regina on Highway 16. Booy said the RCUT intersection is safer because it reduces the number of conflict points. If people do get into an accident, it won't be in a T-bone fashion, so there's a lesser chance of serious injury. He said the feedback gathered at the meeting will be brought to the government, but it is solely up to the officials in charge to make the final decision. alambert@
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.
Winnipeg Free Press
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Winnipeg Free Press
Demonstrators demand overpass at dangerous Carberry intersection
CARBERRY — More than 150 people stood near the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 to denounce the preferred option for a redesign of the intersection in response to a collision two years ago that killed 17 people. They carried signs that read 'safety not shortcuts,' and 'how many more accidents before they listen.' The group opposes a U-turn option, which is called an RCUT. Jordan Dickson, 31, one of the organizers, said the RCUT model isn't safe for the farmers and truckers who live in the area. More than 150 people gathered to protest proposed changes for the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5, where 17 people died in a crash in June 2023. 'There's hundreds, if not thousands of trucks … plus all the other everyday passenger traffic coming through here,' she said. The RCUT model, or restricted crossing U-turn, doesn't exist in Manitoba but is commonly found in the United States. The Carberry RCUT would include U-turns both east and west of the current intersection. At an open house in late March, a consultant hired by the provincial government said three design options were under consideration, but his presentation focused on the RCUT design because, he said, it is unfamiliar to Manitobans. Dickson, who lives 30 seconds away from the intersection, said the McCain potato plant southeast of Carberry is the source of a lot of traffic throughout the year, and big vehicles would have a hard time matching the speed on the Trans-Canada before slowing down for a U-turn. 'For all those vehicles to have to merge onto the (Trans-Canada), merge over three lanes, do a U-turn, merge back over — it's a recipe for a disaster,' said Dickson, standing near crosses that have been erected to honour the 17 victims of the June 2023 crash. They died after their minibus crossed into the eastbound lanes of Highway 1 and was hit by a semi-trailer. Attendees at the rally said they want an overpass — a much more expensive option — to be built. The province has said it isn't feasible, but Dickson said cost shouldn't matter. 'How many more lives have to be lost before the province finally realizes that the cost is worth it?' she said. Kirsten Duguay said her daughter is supposed to start working at the hospital in Neepawa soon and will have to cross the intersection to get to work. She said she's worried about her safety if an RCUT is implemented. 'It makes me nervous that she has to navigate that intersection, possibly after a 12-hour shift where she's tired,' said the 55-year-old Duguay, who is a nurse in Carberry. A truck driver who said he uses the intersection at least three times a day said he's worried about the RCUT intersection. 'I can tell you right now, your accident rate is going to skyrocket,' said 50-year-old Byron Vanrooyen. 'A truck can't pick up speed fast enough, and the guys with the cars come down here driving at 110, 120 (km/h) — you can't push a truck in there faster.' Vanrooyen said some tractors can't go faster than 30 km/h when pulling equipment, and they'll be in the way of other traffic. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN Protesters carried signs that read 'safety not shortcuts,' and 'how many more accidents before they listen.' The group opposes a U-turn option, called an RCUT. 'You're going to create more problems, with people having more accidents and more deaths,' he said. Rally-goers, equipped with a megaphone, said the province surveyed traffic volumes in July, which is among the least busy times of the year. They said the survey should have been conducted in the busy spring or fall seasons. 'The consultants aren't listening. They roll their eyes, they brush us off,' Dickson told the crowd via the megaphone. Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead, who wasn't at the rally, said he's 'still on the fence' about which route the province should select. He said because the province said it won't build an overpass, he prefers the RCUT, as the design is safer than other interchanges. But he also acknowledged that farming equipment, which travels a lot slower than the 100 km/h speed limit, could pose a danger on the busy Trans-Canada. Muirhead said the province should put the overpass option back on the table, and said the NDP government saying it's too expensive is a way of 'passing the buck off to another government.' Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. He said the rally will draw attention to the issue but he doesn't think it will affect the government's decision. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, in a statement Thursday, didn't provide an update on which design is favoured. 'The province has conducted extensive community consultations, and no final decision has been made,' said a spokesperson from Naylor's office. 'Work continues on the functional design process and the project remains on schedule.' Construction is set to begin in early 2026, and should be open to traffic in the fall of 2026. — Brandon Sun
Global News
22-05-2025
- General
- Global News
‘It doesn't fit': Carberry residents oppose RCUT solution at deadly intersection
A group of Carberry residents say they are opposing planned safety measures at a deadly intersection, arguing provincial consultants didn't listen to what the community wanted at the site. The intersection of Highways 1 and 5 was the site of the deadliest crash in Manitoba's history in June 2023, when a mini-bus full of Dauphin-area seniors was hit by a semi. Seventeen people died as a result of the accident. Over the next year, three potential options were floated: a roundabout, an RCUT (restricted crossing U-turn) intersection, and median widening. Despite feedback from some community members and Carberry's mayor and council calling for an overpass, the residents say that option appears to have been nixed by the province earlier this year. In an open letter about Thursday's protest, the Carberry residents laid out a series of reasons for opposing the safety consultants' preferred choice of an RCUT solution. Story continues below advertisement 1:04 'It's a no-brainer': Officials in Carberry, Man., call for overpass at deadly intersection The residents listed issues such as access for farm equipment, emergency vehicles and school buses, among their reasons, for opposing the plan. They also noted that previous consultations didn't take into account the increase in traffic through the rural Manitoba community during the annual harvest season. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'We want to obviously make clear that we're not opposed to making the intersection safer, that is … the goal,' area resident Jordan Dickson told Global Winnipeg. 'It's just that these consultations, it's been very obvious the RCUT … has been pushed, and the consultants are very much dismissive of any opinions or concerns that have been brought up by the local community, especially the local farming community. 'It doesn't fit for this area.' Dickson, who lives just south of the intersection, said there have been multiple crashes before and after the 2023 incident, and she's frustrated it took such a serious tragedy to spur the province toward making a change. Story continues below advertisement 'It's in my backyard. That's a big reason why I've been so passionate about this,' she said. 'We need a safer option there. I go through it every single day, multiple times a day, as do many of our community members, family, friends.' 2:07 Reaction to Highway 1 intersection upgrade options near Carberry Resident Kim Reynolds said a planned rally for Thursday night is expected to draw around 100 people, including representatives of the local farming community. 'We have a lot of the local trucking firms and farmers bringing some of their implements and some examples of what crosses this intersection daily,' Reynolds said. 'With one of the largest potato processing plants just south of that intersection and one of the largest pork processing plants north, (there are) lots of double-wide semis — which is what kind of makes that intersection dangerous to start with, because it's not wide enough. Story continues below advertisement 'When the consultation was done, they had someone sit there and count vehicles, but it was July, so that's not a very accurate representation of our intersection. I would challenge them to sit there in September or May and see how busy that intersection is.' In a statement Thursday, the province said a final decision is yet to be made on the intersection. 'Work continues on the functional design process, and the project remains on schedule with construction set to begin in early 2026, with opening to traffic expected in fall 2026.'
