Latest news with #highwayintersection
National Post
26-06-2025
- National Post
Manitoba plan to upgrade intersection where bus crash killed 17 faces opposition
Bureaucrats and consultants got an earful from local residents Wednesday night as they presented their preferred safety upgrade to a highway intersection where a crash killed 17 people in 2023. Article content Although the final decision will rest with politicians, the Transportation Department, in conjunction with two firms hired to help weigh different options, is suggesting a design known as an RCUT, or restricted crossing U-turn. Article content Article content The design allows traffic on the main highway to flow freely, while people on a side highway are prevented from crossing directly or turning left. Instead, they must turn right, merge with traffic, execute a U-turn and then merge again. Article content Article content 'It's just a recipe for disaster, honestly,' Debra Steen, a resident who helped collect more than 2,000 signatures on a petition against the RCUT. Article content 'The R-cut will not work here because we have large farming equipment, and we have trucking associations.' Article content Steen was among dozens of residents who attended an open house on the proposed change in a crowded school gymnasium, with many telling the government hosts the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 5 needs an overpass to separate traffic. At times, the meeting hosts asked for order and for people to speak one at a time. Article content Article content Tragedy struck at the intersection in June 2023 when a bus carrying 24 seniors from the Dauphin area, heading south on Highway 5, crossed into the path of an eastbound semi-trailer on Highway 1. The latter road is part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. Article content Article content The semi-trailer had the right of way, and the bus driver had a yield sign. The collision caused the bus to catch fire and end up in a ditch. Some of the 17 who died were thrown from the vehicle. Article content Police and Crown attorneys did not lay charges, saying they could not prove the bus driver's actions that day rose to the level of being criminal. Article content The intersection currently allows traffic to flow freely on the Trans-Canada Highway, while vehicles on Highway 5 have a stop sign as they first arrive at the intersection, followed by a yield sign in the median. Article content The NDP government promised to improve the intersection and floated several possibilities, ranging from a roundabout — rejected because it might slow down traffic — to a wider median that would provide more space for trucks waiting to cross the Trans-Canada or turn left onto it.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Manitoba eyes three options to improve intersection where crash killed 17
CARBERRY — The Manitoba government is moving closer to changing a highway intersection where a bus crash killed 17 people, but there is controversy over the plan. The province is holding an open house tonight in Carberry, west of Winnipeg, not far from where a minibus carrying 24 seniors tried to cross the Trans-Canada Highway and was struck by a semi-trailer in 2023. The province has discussed three options: widening the median, turning the intersection into a roundabout, or banning left turns onto the highway, which would force people to turn right before making a U-turn. A meeting notice says the preferred option is to be presented at the meeting, and some area residents say the province has been pushing the third alternative, known as a R-cut. Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead says he still wants an overpass built — an option the government has said it's not considering. No charges were laid in the bus crash, as police said they could not prove the bus driver's actions that day rose to the level of being criminal. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025. The Canadian Press
