Public consultation starting on overhaul of intersection that was site of Manitoba's deadliest bus crash

The future design of the Manitoba highway intersection that was the site of a deadly bus crash last year will be the focus of upcoming public consultations, the province says.

A public open house in mid-July will gather feedbackregarding the overhaul of the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway andHighway 5 near the southwestern community of Carberry, the province said in a Friday news release.

That's where a June 15, 2023, crash between a semiand a bus full of seniors from the Dauphin area on a day trip to a casinoleft 17 dead and eight others injured.

Another crash at the same intersection the following monthinjured three people, aftera pickup truck collided with a sport utility vehicle, causing both to hit a third vehicle.

The open house, to be held at the Carberry Community Memorial Hall on July 16 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., will also share details about the future of the intersection's design process.

Later this fall, the province says the options for the intersection will be available for thepublic to share feedback online.

The design choices for the intersection include three options identified in a report commissioned by the province following the bus crash aroundabout, a wider median or a setup that forces drivers to make a U-turn instead of turning left.

A decision on the layout for the intersection is expectedlater this year, with a functional design report to be completed by early 2025, the province said Friday. The changes are scheduled to be finished in the fall of 2026.

The province also said it will hold public consultation on the design of the intersection between Highway 12 and Provincial Road 210, nearthe southeastern Manitoba town of Ste. Anne, the province says.

Thatintersection, about 45 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, was the site of more than 60 collisions between 2010 and 2019, almost half of which resulted in injuries and three of which left someone dead, according to a road safety review on the intersection completed last August.

The open house on that intersection, which will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on July 11 at Club Jovial in Ste. Anne, will offer a look at the project and its design, as well as potential alternatives and next steps.

The project's design team will gather feedback from participants at that event in order to decide possibilities for the intersection. Online feedback will be gathered starting mid-July, according to the province.

It says it expects a preferred layout for that intersection later this year, with a functional design report by early 2025.