Rarely seen highway design in Canada could save countless lives: traffic safety engineer

An unconventional type of intersection in Canada could be the solution to improving the Manitoba highway where a crash last year killed 17 people on a minibus on their way to a casino.

The provincial government is promising to spend $12 million to enhance the intersection of Highway 1 and 5 near Carberry, where a semi-trailer collided with the bus carrying seniors in June 2023.

The intersection was found to have a narrow median, making it tricky for vehicles making left turns or going straight through.

An outside review, released Monday, outlined three potential changes: widening the median, turning the intersection into a roundabout or implementing a restricted-crossing U-turn, also known as an RCUT.

The RCUT, more common in the U.S. but rarely seen in Canada, is the best and safest, according to an American state traffic safety engineer.

“It’s not allowing drivers to cross the intersection anymore,” said Derek Leuer with Minnesota’s Department of Transportation. “They now have to do a couple turning maneuvers to get through the intersection.”

Leuer says Minnesota has seen a 70 per cent reduction in the number of severe and fatal collisions since 2010 thanks to the RCUT design.

“The fact they we are not allowing people to cross the intersection anymore, it works. It has worked time and time again. Every one of these locations where we have installed them, we have seen the reduction in injuries and the reduction of fatalities.”

‘It’s not safe. People die.’

The current intersection layout near Carberry generally meets transportation design standards, Manitoba government officials noted, but implementing one of the three proposed changes could prevent similar collisions from happening.

The report found there were 29 collisions at the site from 2012 to 2021, with one being fatal.

David Henry, a truck driver in Manitoba, feels the RCUT design is the safest option out of the three proposed ideas.

“At first, I thought this is not a great idea, but it is sure a lot better than crossing over a highway,” Henry said. “I don’t want to see anybody crossing the highway for any reason. That is why they closed almost all the crossovers on the perimeter highway. It’s not safe. People die.”

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew says he wants to determine the safest change and follow through on it.

The review was ordered under the former Progressive Conservative government and took six months to complete. An outside consulting firm was hired to conduct a site analysis, go over video evidence and analyze data from previous collisions.

Cloverleaf and overpass: overlooked design?

Mark Dech, who has been working in the trucking industry for 44 years, says there is only one safe option, and it’s not any of the three proposed ideas.

“It’s a cloverleaf and overpass,” Dech told CityNews. “That eliminates any interruption in traffic. There is no crossing where you’re stopped, and somebody is coming at you at 100km/hr. It’s the safest.

“You can’t put a dollar sign on people’s lives.”

WATCH: Manitoba reveals safety updates to Carberry crash intersection

---

The bus crash happened near the town of Carberry, about 160 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

Police said dashcam footage showed the bus was southbound on Highway 5 and crossing Highway 1 — part of the Trans-Canada Highway system — when it went into the path of the eastbound truck, which had the right of way.

The intersection consists of stop and yield signs for drivers approaching on Highway 5.

The RCMP is still investigating the crash. A spokesperson for the force in Manitoba said officers have yet to speak to the driver of the bus but would not elaborate due to health privacy laws. Shared Health, the province’s central health-care agency, stopped issuing updates on the injured and whether any remained in hospital.

The province said Monday that prosecutors had received the investigation file from the RCMP, but there was no word on whether charges might be laid.

Redesigning other intersections in Manitoba

Aaron Dolyniuk from the Manitoba Trucking Association says it’s important to look at other dangerous intersections in addition to the one at Highway 1 and 5.

“The intersection of Highway 1 and 16, there has been lights there for years and have been many tragic accidents,” he said. “One at Elie, there is another intersection there as well. There are many across the province and I think the premier said this will set precedence for other intersections throughout the province.”

The study looked at other potential changes, such as traffic lights and reducing the speed limit below 100 kilometres per hour, but determined those could create additional safety issues.

Smaller steps were taken in the weeks after the crash. Signage was improved, and rumble strips and pavement markings were refreshed.

The province said there will be consultations in the coming months to determine which option is the best for the intersection. The project is expected to be complete by 2026.

–With files from The Canadian Press