‘People keep getting killed’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/08/2017 (3102 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the past 11 days, six people in three separate incidents have died at the intersection of highways 1 and 16 near Portage la Prairie.

The victims include a 10-year-old boy and three teenagers, aged 13, 17 and 19.

Larry Saunders, who’s lived in Portage since 1968, said the accidents and deaths at the intersection are nothing new. He says the body count has been piling up for decades. He said he doesn’t understand why the government hasn’t done anything about it.

Unless something is done, he says, that body count will keep rising.

“The last two weeks have just been a sample of what’s been going on for the past 30 years. It’s been that long there’s been an issue with an overpass not being put in at that corner,” Saunders said.

“Look, I’m not an activist. But this is nuts. People are dying. It’s two major highways. I don’t know of a single highway in Canada that’s got such a horrible setup.”

3 children, 3 adults killed in crashes

The recent string of deaths began Aug. 19, when two boys and a man died after their van was hit by a semi-trailer when making a turn.

The driver of the semi sustained minor injuries.

The 35-year-old female driver of the van and an eight-year-old boy remain in critical but stable condition in hospital, but a 36-year-old man and two boys —10 and 13 — were killed.

On Aug. 26, a 39-year-old man from Portage died after walking onto the highway and being hit by a semi.

The next day, two teenagers, 17 and 19, were killed when a semi ran a red light and hit their car.

“Last night, RCMP officers had to go tell two families that their children were never coming home,” RCMP spokeswoman Tara Seel said in a news release Sunday.

“Now those families are reeling and the bottom line is they should not have to be. The tragedies we are seeing on the roadways are preventable. Drivers need to slow down and pay attention.”

But Saunders said calling on drivers to pay attention and slow down isn’t a solution — building an interchange at the intersection is.

Interchange announced in 2007, but not constructed

After the last crash, he began calling politicians to ask why it hasn’t happened yet.

He said he reached out to Portage MLA Ian Wishart, but was told to call the premier’s office and the minister of infrastructure. Neither responded to his calls, he said.

“More people are going to lose their lives. All the government’s done is talk, talk, talk. People keep getting killed, killed, killed and injured, injured, injured. It wasn’t my kids killed but people are dying,” Saunders said.

It turns out there were plans for an interchange to be built in 2007, but they fell through. At the time, the provincial and federal governments both announced plans to invest in infrastructure in the region.

“It was discussed. There were fairly detailed plans. There was a big announcement and they said they had money set aside, but nothing was ever built,” Portage Mayor Irvine Ferris said.

A spokesman for the province confirmed Monday plans for an interchange at the intersection were “announced in 2007, however it was not completed,” although he gave no indication as to why.

“Well that’s the question that needs to be answered. What happened?” Ferris said.

Stoplights ‘clearly not working’

The speed limit on the highway was also raised to 110 kilometres an hour, up from 100, which Ferris said increases the need for an interchange.

Statistics released by Manitoba Public Insurance in January show that 2016 was the deadliest year on the province’s highways in more than a decade with 112 deaths, up from 78 the year before.

The RCMP was contacted late Monday afternoon, but could not provide statistics on fatal crashes at the intersection by press time.

As far as Saunders is concerned, the fact nothing has been done is inexplicable.

“There are stoplights there but clearly it’s not working. There’s been talk for decades, but never anything done. I care about that family that was hit so hard the bull-bumper from a semi was ripped right off,” he said.

“They know people are going to die. How much are those six lives worth? If they’re short money, I’ll chip in a thousand dollars. If you’ve got money for other issues, then you’ve got money for this.

“Raise my taxes, I don’t care. I’ll pay extra on my taxes. It’s people’s lives were talking about.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca