Province to release report on highway intersection nearly seven months after deadly Carberry crash

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This article was published 08/01/2024 (663 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The findings of a safety review of the highway intersection where 17 seniors were killed in a crash near Carberry last year will be made public by the Manitoba government Monday.

Victims’ families and municipal officials have been invited to technical briefings and a news conference in Dauphin, where most of the dead and the survivors are from.

“That’s a treacherous intersection,” Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead said about the Trans-Canada at Highway 5. “That intersection has been a source of contention not for years, but decades.”

Muirhead said he will attend Monday’s briefing with the town’s chief administrative officer and fire chief. The findings will be shared with the families before they are released to the public.

It is unclear whether the NDP government will announce any upgrades or measures intended to prevent collisions at the intersection, which is about 150 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

The former Progressive Conservative government ordered an internal review and hired an external engineering consultant, WSP Canada Inc., to conduct a road safety analysis, following one of Canada’s deadliest highway crashes.

The June 15 collision involved a mini-bus carrying 25 people and a tractor-trailer at an intersection where safety concerns had been raised by local residents.

The RCMP has said the southbound bus, which was headed to Sand Hills Casino, crossed into the path of the semi-truck, which had the right of way in the Trans-Canada’s eastbound lanes.

Eight people on the bus, including the driver, survived with serious injuries. The truck driver was not seriously injured.

In response, the province updated rumble strips on Highway 5 just before the intersection and increased signage, said Muirhead.

Six weeks after the tragedy, three people were seriously injured in a collision at the same intersection.

There has been a lot of talk in and around Carberry about how to improve safety at a junction that was designed for the 1960s and has been the scene of multiple crashes, he said.

Some have suggested erecting a structure such as a cloverleaf interchange or overpass.

Muirhead doesn’t expect a radical overhaul. He said he remains “realistic,” given factors such as infrastructure budget constraints.

“I just hope they do something in the long term,” the mayor said.

He hopes the province widens the narrow median between Highway 1’s eastbound and westbound lanes.

The median was not designed for today’s larger vehicles such as semi-trucks hauling two trailers, which do not fit, said Muirhead.

Those types of vehicles require westbound and eastbound traffic to be clear in order to cross, resulting in long delays, rushed crossings and collisions, according to a petition launched in July by the Carberry and Municipality of North Cypress-Langford councils.

Robert Bernat, one of the bus passengers who survived the crash, said the widening of the median should be a priority.

The 72-year-old farmer also wondered whether traffic lights could help to reduce the number of collisions.

“There’s been a lot of accidents there,” said Bernat. “I know it’s the No. 1 highway and you don’t want to have lights all over the place, but that intersection has been a problem.”

Bernat spent about two months in hospital and continues to attend medical appointments for his injuries, including nerve damage that has limited the use of his right arm.

As for potential safety measures, Muirhead would also welcome a further reduced speed limit for through traffic on Highway 1. The limit drops to 100 km/h from 110 km/h about two kilometres on either side of the junction.

“Even if it’s reduced by 10 km/h, it would increase the survival rate in a collision,” said Muirhead.

Northbound and southbound traffic on Highway 5 is controlled by stop signs.

Changes in the behaviour of some drivers are also necessary to help improve safety, said Muirhead. Regardless of the posted limit, some will speed through the intersection, he said.

“That’s a driver thing. People have to slow down, and they have to be more attentive and more aware,” said Muirhead.

Before the Oct. 3 election, the Free Press asked Manitoba’s main political parties whether they would commit to redesigning the intersection. The NDP said it would consider recommendations from the internal and external studies.

Paper and online petitions, which called on the province to make immediate and long-term improvements at the junction, were recently given to Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, said Muirhead.

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More than 3,200 people signed the online petition.

Meanwhile, the victims’ families, survivors and public continue to wait for the findings of the ongoing RCMP investigation, which will determine if charges are warranted.

“We very much appreciate the public’s interest in the outcome of this investigation as the tragedy affected many,” police spokeswoman Tara Seel wrote in an email.

“Investigations of this magnitude take time to complete, and RCMP investigators continue to work diligently to find answers for all those involved.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.