'Very successful' open house held to discuss safety improvement at deadly Manitoba intersection

An open house to discuss safety improvement to an intersection that was the site of a deadly crash last year had a good turnout and there was a lot of interest shown in the project according to one executive.

The open house was held at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall Tuesday night to discuss how the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Provincial Trunk Highway 5 can be improved.

It was the site of a crash involving a minibus and semi-trailer. Seventeen people were killed in the crash.

Dustin Booy, the executive director of highway engineering services at Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure, said there was a lot of public interest at the event.

"I think it was very successful. It was a listening exercise for us here at Manitoba Transportation," said Booy. "We're really out there at this point in time just to hear more from the public how they use the intersection and different types of considerations that we should take into account when we're developing design options for future evaluation."

He said safety was obviously the number one topic of conversation, but people were also focused on how to navigate the intersection once a design is chosen for the area.

An official design hasn't been made yet, however, three potential options will be made available for public feedback in the fall.

"Then we'll undertake the evaluation, select the preferred alternative, and present the preferred alternative, hopefully toward the end of this calendar year."

Booy noted they have no preconceived notions on which design option will work best and that they will be viewed against a set of evaluation criteria.

"It'll consider things like safety, traffic operations and mobility, given that this is the Trans-Canada Highway, it will be an important consideration. Cost is always a major consideration for us…we'll score those against the evaluation criteria and develop a preferred or a recommended alternative."

Once a new design has been determined, Booy said some construction activities can start in late 2025 and the hope is to have the entire project done by the fall of 2026.