Carberry residents decry proposed RCUT as 'dangerous and unsafe' at tense forum over future of intersection

Transportation engineers presented their plan for a Carberry-area intersection on Wednesday, pushing forward a controversial design that scores of community members rallied against last month. 

More than 100 community members confronted officials at a tense public forum at Carberry Collegiate about the fate of the Highway 1 and Highway 5 intersection, where 17 people died in a crash two years ago. 

The event was billed as a public open house, hosted by the Winnipeg-based firms Landmark Planning & Design and WSP Canada Inc., on behalf of Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.

Some community members raised voices, saying they didn't feel like they were being heard, while others interrupted the companies' representatives as they attempted to answer questions from the crowd. 

A petition with more than 2,100 signatures was handed to the firms' representatives, imploring the province not to move forward with the RCUT intersection design. In May, more than 100 protesters rallied near the intersection voicing concerns the proposed design would create safety issues  and confusion. 

A restricted crossing U-turn — or RCUT — at that intersection would mean traffic attempting to cross the Trans-Canada on Highway 5 would have to turn right onto the Trans-Canada, then cross the median by making a left U-turn, before turning right to resume travelling on Highway 5.

Jordan Dickson, who helped organize the May protest, expressed her frustration directly with engineers on Wednesday night, encouraging others to do the same. 

"Absolutely no one in attendance is in support of the RCUT," she said. 

"It is dangerous and unsafe for this area of the Trans-Canada. Hopefully the province doesn't actually go through with this and they decide to actually spend some money on rural citizens for once," Dickson said, stressing the RCUT will make driving more stressful for farmers driving large trucks and farm equipment along the highway. 

Last year, engineers with Manitoba's transportation and infrastructure department shortlisted three potential solutions for the intersection: widening the median, a roundabout or an RCUT.

On Wednesday, the RCUT was presented as the department's "preferred alternative." 

Dustin Booy, the transportation department's executive director of highway engineering services, said the RCUT is their top choice because it reduces the number of "conflict points," or areas where drivers cross traffic travelling a different direction, which could make accidents less likely. 

"The primary objective of our team is safety. So we looked to the RCUT because its use in other areas have shown quite dramatic results in terms of safety performance," Booy said. 

Canada's only RCUT intersection is along Highway 16 near Saskatoon. Booy said they have improved safety in some parts of the United States.