The Manitoba government is moving forward with plans to redesign the busy intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 near Carberry, the site of a tragic 2023 minibus crash that killed 17 people. However, the preferred design option, a Reduced Conflict U-Turn (RCUT) intersection, has sparked significant controversy among local residents, truckers, farmers, and elected officials.
On Wednesday night, a packed crowd gathered at the Carberry Collegiate Gymnasium for an open house hosted by Landmark Planning & Design Inc. and WSP Canada Inc. on behalf of Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.
The province has earmarked $12 million to improve the intersection, aiming to improve safety at one of the region’s most dangerous intersections. But despite the department’s recommendation of the RCUT design as the safest option, many attendees voiced strong opposition, favoring an overpass or widened median instead.
Understanding the RCUT design
Dustin Booy, Executive Director of Highway Engineering Services with Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, explained the RCUT concept and why it was selected as the preferred alternative after extensive evaluation.
He emphasized that the RCUT’s main safety advantage is its reduction of “conflict points”, locations where streams of traffic cross, increasing the risk of collisions. Unlike traditional intersections where vehicles may cross head-on, the RCUT design requires drivers turning left from Highway 5 onto Highway 1 to first turn right and travel approximately 900 metres downstream to complete a U-turn. This design allows drivers on Highway 1 to better see vehicles entering traffic and react accordingly.
“In the event that drivers do make a mistake, the vehicles are generally pointed in the same direction, and they're travelling at a similar speed," Booy explains. "It produces much better outcomes rather than the severe outcomes that you would see in a T-bone intersection.”
The RCUT is new to Manitoba but widely used in places like Minnesota and Saskatchewan, where studies have shown up to a 96% reduction in high-risk conflicts at similar intersections.
Despite this, Booy acknowledged that an overpass remains a consideration for the future but is currently not justified by traffic volumes or operational issues.
Other options and overpass debate
Alongside the RCUT, the government considered two other designs: a widened median and a split intersection, both intended to provide larger refuge areas in the median for trucks and farm equipment to safely wait before crossing.
However, many in the community question whether these options go far enough. The long-discussed overpass, which would separate traffic entirely and eliminate crossing conflicts, remains the preferred choice of many local residents and leaders.
Farmers who rely on the highway to transport large equipment and loads voiced concerns about the RCUT’s practicality.
Griffin Adriaansen, a farmer from nearby Wellwood, described the difficulties for slow-moving farm vehicles forced to cross multiple lanes:
“If you're dragging long farm equipment and you have to cross all three lanes, you're going to be in the way, and you're going to be going slower than traffic. If you have a 110-foot auger behind your tractor, and you have to cross three lanes, it's just dangerous."
Safety and traffic realities at the intersection
The intersection serves a diverse mix of traffic, from school buses and emergency vehicles to semi-trucks and farm equipment, especially busy during peak harvest seasons. The limited median space and complex traffic patterns create hazards frequently highlighted by locals.
Ken Peters, a long-time resident, underscored the urgency of widening the intersection.
“There is no room in between the highways, so now you're going to merge into traffic three times? It needs to be widened," he says. "An overpass, that was the original plan. Should have been done years ago. There's over 50 people that have been killed here at this intersection and here we are bickering over pictures."
Medical concerns were also raised, including by newcomer Tyson Boychuk, who has personal ties to victims of the 2023 bus crash.
He questioned how the RCUT might affect emergency response times, especially in poor visibility conditions caused by dense fog, common in the area.
“I just don't understand how this RCUT is not going to add more response time. When you start thinking about a big truck and crossing all those lanes and then crossing all those lanes to get off again, and you can't see anything, there's not a lot there.”
Community mobilization and criticism of consultation process
Local residents have mobilized to oppose the RCUT through petitions, rallies, and calls for more meaningful consultation.
Over 2,100 signatures were collected from truckers, farmers, and other concerned citizens opposing the RCUT plan.
Debra Steen, a petition organizer, voiced frustration with what she described as a lack of government responsiveness.
“We have sat patiently, we've expressed our views, and honestly, we have gotten no response, and we feel we haven't been listened to," she remarks. "We ask big, we want the overpass. We realize we might not get it, but even a widened median would solve the problems.”
Jordan Dickson echoed these sentiments, criticizing the consultation process.
“It's very clear that they have not listened to anything that locals have said over this supposed consultation period. They want to do it cheap. They want to do it fast. They don't want to spend the money on rural residents to actually make it safe with an overpass.”
MLA Jodie Byram supports further review
Agassiz MLA Jodie Byram, whose constituency includes Carberry and the surrounding rural municipalities, emphasized the importance of community input in the decision-making process.
“I am not in support of an RCUT, where there isn't community consensus and community support... We have school buses that are using that intersection. We will have new drivers driving to school at that same time harvest is happening which will all compromise the safety of every driver on the road using that intersection.”
She also encouraged further data gathering during peak traffic times.
“I do hope that the consultants, the government will take time to review and do further consultation where they can get a better scope and a better sense of what the traffic flow looks like and the equipment that is utilizing that intersection in peak harvest times and even springtime.”
What’s next?
While the RCUT is currently the preferred alternative recommended by Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, the government is reviewing feedback collected from the open house and other community engagements before making a final decision.
“The government still needs to take some time to understand, the reaction of the local community, the stakeholders, and how this decision might impact those folks and the government will make a decision at some future time about which intersectional alternative ultimately will be selected,” added Booy.
For now, the debate continues as residents, farmers, and officials seek the safest, most practical solution to a long-standing traffic hazard, one that reflects the realities of rural Manitoba’s diverse and heavy highway traffic.
