Site of deadly Manitoba bus crash was studied in 2006, but suggested improvement wasn't completed

With safety upgrade recommendations for the tract of Manitoba's deadliest crash set to beryllium announced this week, CBC has learned the state studied the intersection astir 20 years agone and chose not to hole a important highlighted issue because of the cost.

The June 15, 2023, clang near 17 radical dead, after a semi and a autobus afloat of seniors from the Dauphin country collided astatine the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5, adjacent Carberry.

The calamity spurred calls for the intersection to beryllium overhauled, with residents successful the country saying they had been informing of its dangers for years. The authorities ordered a afloat reappraisal of the intersection, with the purpose of identifying longer-term information improvements, and is acceptable to denote its recommendations this week.

But a 2006 survey of the intersection said the median is excessively constrictive and doesn't conscionable nationalist standards — a origin of interest that inactive hasn't been addressed.

"It's truly heartbreaking that they've known this agelong and fundamentally waited until determination was a tragic mishap 2 years agone to really measurement up and bash anything," said Jordan Dickson, whose location is conscionable down the roadworthy from wherever the collision took place. 

CBC obtained the two-page 2006 document, which is simply a summary of the assessment of the intersection, done state of accusation laws. The appraisal came aft Carberry town assembly asked the state to analyse the intersection, according to the report.

The summary says determination were 11 accidents astatine the intersection implicit a five-year period. An technologist with the provincial government's postulation engineering subdivision wrote successful the study that complaint was "below the level of concern" to conscionable the criteria for a postulation signal.

The study didn't place any single specific factor that contributed to the reported collisions, but determination were "a fig of items that whitethorn person contributed to an imperfect driving environment, frankincense starring to immoderate of the events of concern," the technologist wrote.

One of those concerns was the existing median width, which "doesn't conscionable today's plan standards," the technologist wrote successful the report, dated June 22, 2006.

The study said the traffic engineering subdivision would code immoderate identified issues — specified arsenic cutting gangly writer that obstructed drivers' views, along with adding median halt bars and a divided-highway warning sign. 

But widening the median wasn't connected the table, owed "to the costs of localized improvements of this nature," the study said.

Province volition urge 1 of 3 options

Nearly 20 years later, widening the median is 1 of the 3 options presented successful a provincial study released successful January 2024. The state has earmarked $12 cardinal to upgrade the intersection. 

Adding a roundabout was besides presented arsenic an option, arsenic was a restricted crossing U-turn, or RCUT.

That enactment would eliminate nonstop near turns from the Trans-Canada and going straight north-south connected Highway 5. Instead, drivers would make merges and U-turns to get wherever they're going.

WATCH | How an RCUT intersection would work:

On Wednesday, authorities officials volition denote their proposal to the assemblage astatine an unfastened location successful Carberry, conscionable a fewer kilometres southbound of the intersection. A authorities spokesperson said it volition not beryllium the last decision. 

All 3 options person been met with protestation by members of the assemblage and section government, who reason the lone existent solution is an overpass. The authorities has antecedently said an overpass is not an enactment owed to the existent postulation volumes.

Area nonmigratory Dickson is portion of a radical of acrophobic assemblage members who precocious organized a protestation against the proposals. She worries the RCUT volition beryllium the recommended enactment and says it would beryllium detrimental to the section agriculture industries successful the area. She'd similar to spot an overpass built.

The southwestern Manitoba country is location to galore murphy farmers, she said, which means during harvest, hundreds of semi-trucks transverse the intersection regular to get to the McCain murphy processing works successful Carberry.

"For them to inquire each these loaded murphy … [trucks] to merge onto a precise engaged No. 1 [Trans-Canada] highway, perchance doubly depending connected if they're going eastbound oregon westbound … they're not going to beryllium capable to get up to speed," she said. 

"It's conscionable going to beryllium much accidents connected the No. 1."

The politician of Carberry says his assembly volition dependable its absorption to the RCUT astatine a stakeholder gathering planned Monday evening with authorities officials.

"The agelong and the abbreviated of it is they don't unrecorded successful this community, and they don't recognize the postulation volumes, the interaction that it'll person connected agriculture," said Mayor Ray Muirhead, who echoed calls for the province to reconsider an overpass.

'Safety deficiencies' agelong known: prof

Stuart Olmstead, Carberry's erstwhile mayor, archetypal became a councillor successful 2006. The information of the intersection was thing the municipality talked to the state astir "year implicit year," helium said.

"Everybody successful municipality has a communicative astir the intersection. Some of them are rather tragic, immoderate of them are scary," helium said.

Olmstead said the median is constrictive due to the fact that the intersection was designed decades agone with the thought of an overpass being built successful the future. 

By today's standards, an intersection similar the 1 astatine Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada would beryllium built with a median wide capable to acceptable a motortruck and person a halt sign, said Ahmed Shalaby, a prof of civilian engineering astatine the University of Manitoba. 

That gives a operator a safer mode to transverse the intersection, allowing them to safely halt astatine the median aft crossing the archetypal lanes of traffic.

But narrower medians tin beryllium recovered each on the Trans-Canada Highway, helium said.

Fixing each 1 astatine a localized level would beryllium tough, because "there is ne'er a fund to bash each the improvements that we desire," helium said.

"The information deficiencies astatine this intersection person been known for a agelong play of time, but determination hasn't been truly an effort to close these."

Shalaby says RCUTs can beryllium an effectual option, but helium has concerns astir 1 astatine the Carberry-area location.

Vehicles from crossed the state thrust connected the Trans-Canada and drivers mightiness beryllium confused, helium said. Currently, the only RCUT successful Canada is connected Highway 16 in Saskatchewan, but they are recovered passim the United States.

But Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor argued if the RCUT is chosen, radical volition get utilized to it.

Naylor said officials gave her their proposal connected the intersection last month, but she wouldn't disclose their decision.

As for the 2006 report saying the median was excessively narrow, Naylor said she "can't talk for a authorities 20 years ago."

"There's tons of moving parts successful government. Certainly we each privation that what happened successful 2023 — that fatal collision that took the lives of 17 seniors — had ne'er happened."