The Manitoba government has begun public consultations about the future design of the highway intersection that was the site of the deadliest bus crash in the province’s history.
More than 100 people attended a come-and-go open house at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall in Carberry, Man., on Tuesday night. It’s part of the province’s plan to gather feedback on how to overhaul the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 near the southwestern community.
The intersection is where a June 15, 2023, collision between a semi and a bus full of seniors from the Dauphin area left 17 dead and eight others injured. Another crash at the same intersection the following month injured three people, after a pickup truck collided with a sport utility vehicle, causing both to hit a third vehicle.
Grady Stephenson, the Town of Carberry’s chief administrative officer, is also the deputy fire chief with the Carberry North Cypress–Langford Fire Department. He was one of the first people on the scene of the June 2023 crash.
Stephenson says right now the intersection is not very safe — the fire department has seen two collisions so far this year, and he estimates the department responds to around four to six calls a year at that intersection.
“We’ve got a lot of first-hand experience about what’s going on out there, and it’s a good chance for us to come and chat about it and give our opinion,” he said.
Longtime Carberry resident Lisa Steen used to live on the same street as the local fire department. She said she would worry whenever fire trucks headed north toward the intersection, as it’s always been a site of concern.
“My heart really goes out to them for having to have to go to the site of that accident,” she said.
Steen says something needs to change.
Safer intersection needed
Dustin Booy, executive director of highway engineering services with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, says first responders are some of the stakeholders the province wants to hear from.
“We want to really understand how the public and how stakeholders use this intersection,” he said. “We want to make sure that we capture that so that it can help us … refine our future design options.”
The province is also consulting with groups like Manitoba Trucking Association, the Town of Carberry, the Municipality of North Cyprus–Langford, and families affected by last year’s bus crash.
Tuesday’s open house was the first stage of a functional design process for the intersection, Booy said. The province will have three rounds of public engagement that will culminate in a recommendation for how to make the intersection safer.
Three main intersection types were shared based on recommendations from a safety review: a widened intersection, a roundabout, or a setup often known as a restricted crossing U-turn — or RCUT — that forces drivers to make a U-turn instead of turning left.
The open house also included other intersection alternatives such as grade-separated, signalized, split or offset T- intersections.
Safety is a top concern here and something they are trying to address, Booy said. Other considerations include traffic operations, costs, effects on surrounding lands, access and other criteria.
Once a design is selected, construction is expected to begin in late 2025 and be completed by fall 2026. Booy said that timeline is consistent for all intersection options.
Some prefer an overpass
Steen said she likes the idea of widening the median so there’s more room between eastbound and westbound lanes for cars and semis crossing the Trans-Canada Highway.
Carberry resident Sylvia Kukurudz says she travels the intersection often. Right now, it’s too small for the amount of traffic she sees.
“We have semis double, sometimes triples, crossing it and there’s just not enough room,” Kukurudz said. “Then other drivers get impatient and you have dangerous situations occurring.”
Kukurudz said she doesn’t think any of the options presented by the province seems like a great fit. She thinks building an overpass would be the best option.
Stephenson agrees an overpass would be the best solution, but he added he understands it’s restrictive from a cost and timing perspective.
Roundabouts have worked in other places, he said. But, Stephenson worries the intersection has too much heavy and agricultural traffic for a roundabout to be as effective.
“Something has to change … to make the collisions less severe,” Stephenson said.
“We’re not going to eliminate all the mistakes that are made there, but if we can reduce the outcomes to [be] less tragic and less impactful, then we’re doing something right.”