Another fatal crash spurs pleas for change St. Andrews officials call for safety upgrades after latest collision at ‘notorious’ highway intersection By: Tyler Searle Posted: 6:37 PM CDT Monday, May. 26, 2025

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A rural municipality that has warned the Manitoba government for years about a dangerous highway intersection is renewing pleas for safety changes following a deadly crash last week.

RM of St. Andrews officials have long raised alarm about the intersection of Highway 8 and Highway 67, which has seen multiple collisions over the years. Most recently, an 18-year-old Stonewall man was killed when his SUV collided with a tractor-trailer while attempting to cross westbound on the roadway on May 21.

“I hate that it’s another life lost, just to make somebody understand that it is a serious safety concern here. That’s the part that really bothered me… This is something we knew might happen,” St. Andrews Coun. Justin Fiebelkorn said by phone Monday.

Fiebelkorn, a captain with the St. Andrews Fire Department and former paramedic, has lived in the area for more than 20 years. During that time, he has lost count of the number of near misses and life-altering collisions he’s witnessed where the highways meet.

Highway 67 runs roughly 25 kilometres between Stonewall and Highway 9, outside of Selkirk. Motorists travelling east or west across that span must cross three intersecting highways controlled by stop signs.

At the intersection of Highway 8, the posted speed limit is 100 kilometres per hour for people travelling north or south. That section is frequently ripe with traffic, leaving little opportunities for east-west crossings, Fiebelkorn said.

After the latest crash, he drafted a letter to Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor. He expects it to be sent later this week, after it is reviewed by his fellow council members.

“I hate that it’s another life lost, just to make somebody understand that it is a serious safety concern here. That’s the part that really bothered me… This is something we knew might happen.”–Justin Fiebelkorn

“I am writing to express my deep concern and urgent plea for immediate safety improvements… This intersection has become notorious for serious and fatal collisions, and I fear that without swift action, more lives will be needlessly lost,” reads the letter.

“The current configuration is simply not equipped to handle the volume and speed of traffic, particularly during peak hours and long weekends.”

It’s not the first warning sent to the province in recent years.

“This is a very dangerous corner and is in dire need of safety improvement,” St. Andrews Mayor Joy Sul wrote in a letter addressed to Naylor in October, after another crash.

“It is a matter that has been brought forth previously, and to date, there has been nothing done.”

Sul, who spoke to the Free Press by phone on Sunday, said she also raised the issue with the former Progressive Conservative government.

The province responded in a Jan. 10 letter, informing Sul it would complete a safety study at the intersection this year.

The province said in a second letter, dated Feb. 21, that the intersection is included in a plan to add passing lanes along a roughly 50-km stretch of Highway 8, between Highway 67 and Provincial Road 231.

“It’s been bad for years, I’m just glad Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure is finally doing something about it,” Sul said, adding she’d like to see lights installed.

Selkirk MLA Richard Perchotte said during question period Monday he had previously voiced concerns over safety at the intersection.

“I was ignored, the RM’s pleas were ignored, pleas from emergency responders were ignored. Now, another life has been lost,” the Tory MLA said to Naylor inside the Manitoba legislature.

Naylor said Perchotte was “politicizing” the loss and blamed the previous government who “did nothing” to improve the intersection.

She noted the RCMP investigation was ongoing and had not determined the cause of the accident.

Construction of passing lanes on Highway 8 and other safety improvements at the intersection will begin this summer, she said.

Fiebelkorn said the community needs to hear specifics about what changes are expected, beyond just passing lanes.

In a phone interview after question period, Naylor said it is too early to provide details on the safety measures because the design work is ongoing.

A team of provincial investigators will visit the site of the crash in the coming weeks and assess the existing infrastructure, she added. That process is triggered in the wake of every fatal collision.

The councillor acknowledged the need for such studies, but urged the province to bring in interim measures.

“Temporary lights, enhanced signage, improved rumble strips, or even a reduced speed zone could significantly reduce risk while more permanent solutions are developed,” Fiebelkorn wrote in his letter.

Naylor said she welcomed his letter and looked forward to reviewing the suggestions.

She also thanked him for his work as a first responder, noting he was among the first people to arrive at the accident scene last week.

Fiebelkorn, who was off duty at the time, was on his way to meet his teenage son when he spotted a trio of RCMP vehicles and an ambulance speeding toward the intersection shortly after 5 p.m., he said.

When he arrived at the scene, a white tractor-trailer rested in a field on the southwest side of the road with its front end crumpled and the wreckage of a black SUV in its grille.

The driver of the truck was sitting in the field, while the younger man was inside his vehicle seriously injured. Paramedics transferred him into the ambulance and did everything they could to save his life, Fiebelkorn said.

“Unfortunately, the outcome was already fatal at that point.”

The other driver, a 43-year-old Winnipeg man, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Fiebelkorn estimated fire crews from St. Andrews have responded to more than a dozen collisions at the intersection of Highway 8 and Highway 67 over the past five years, including three crashes so far this year.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca