The Province has taken action in response to the serious collisions that took place at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 near Carberry, with the installation of rumble strips and newly painted highway lines.
To local residents and travelers familiar with that intersection, it has been a corner with numerous close-calls and tragic collisions over the years, the most deadly taking place on June 15th when a semi-truck collided with a bus carrying seniors from their hometown of Dauphin. The horrific crash resulted in 17 deaths and 8 injuries. July 31st brought attention to this intersection once again, when a collision resulted in three people seriously injured and being air-lifted to Winnipeg and Brandon hospitals.
Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead says their town council, in conjunction with the Rural Municipality of Cypress-Langford have met with representatives from Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI), their second meeting taking place just this past week Monday.
“They just explained to us what they plan to do,” shares Muirhead. “They plan to enhance the already existing rumble strips on the north and south lanes on #5 Highway several hundred yards back, just to alert drivers to pay attention that there is a major intersection coming up.”
Muirhead notes the Province will be adding and enhancing the signage at that junction to make drivers aware of the oncoming intersection. Traffic studies have taken place; traffic counts and speed studies.
“They don’t want to rush to judgement right away because it takes studies, which there have been several studies done, but over time with the increased traffic volumes and so on, they want to make sure they do it right the first time,” explains Muirhead.
“They realize that the median between the two lanes is far too close. So, they want to address that in such a way, whether it’s an overpass, whether it’s widening the median between the TransCanada lanes, a cloverleaf, a round-about, whichever, that’s to be determined.”
The traffic volume on that stretch of highway has increased exponentially over the past decade adds Muirhead. “Our local fire department, of course they keep stats on all this and every time the fire alarm goes off in Carberry, and emergency vehicles head north, I bet you it’s 6 to 8 times out of 10 that junction, and it has been for years, if not decades.”
“So, something has to be done, even as soon as the next couple of weeks when potato harvest starts. It’s going to be really busy out there.”
“We just want people to be careful out there and be attentive, be aware of what’s around you, stop, look both ways, don’t be in a hurry,” he adds.
A letter has been sent to Carberry Town Council and the RM of Cypress-Langford Council stating, ‘To get a complete understanding of all safety issues at PTH 1 and PTH 5, the department has hired an engineering consultant to complete an In-service Road Safety Review (ISRSR) which has already started. An ISRSR is a detailed engineering study of an existing road facility to identify road safety issues and a list of short-term and long-term countermeasures to address those safety issues.’
The enhancements that are planned to be implemented as soon as possible include:
• Replacement of traffic control signage.
o the department has assessed the existing signage at the intersection and will be replacing signs where the quality can be improved.
• Installation of “Important Intersection” signs.
o These signs will be installed with a flashing amber light on PTH 1 and PTH 5 ahead of the intersection.
• Installation of additional speed limit signs
o These signs will be installed to reinforce the 100 km/h speed limit on PTH 1.
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