Province scraps unpopular RCUT design

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This article was published 09/07/2025 (260 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government has scrapped a controversial plan for the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry.

Premier Wab Kinew announced Wednesday that the province was abandoning the restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) design for the intersection where 17 people were killed in a bus crash two years ago.

“After hearing clearly from the community, our government will not proceed with the (RCUT) design,” Kinew said in a written statement. “While engineers identified it as a safe option, rural Manitobans told us it’s not the right fit.”

The RCUT was touted by the province as the “preferred alternative” for the intersection at an open house last month, where dozens of community members voiced their opposition. Protesters also held a rally in May, and more than 2,100 people signed a petition to have the proposed layout scrapped.

The RCUT would have forced drivers going straight or turning left from Highway 5 to turn right before crossing over three lanes and making a U-turn 900 metres later. Drivers turning left from the Trans-Canada would turn at the intersection.

Kinew said the province will take a fresh look at the intersection.

“We’re listening, stepping back, and developing a new approach that prioritizes safety and reflects local needs,” he said.

“This process will include further design work, budgeting, and consultation with a commitment to transparency and community input every step of the way.”

Debra Steen, who was one of the organizers of the May rally and one of the most vocal opponents at last month’s open house, said the decision comes as a relief.

“I’m thankful they’re listening,” she said.

“The RCUT would have just been tragic, honestly. It just would have been the worst.”

Another rally organizer and vocal critic agreed.

“It would have been a recipe for disaster,” Jordan Dickson said about the RCUT plan.

She said the province needs to redo its traffic study — which was originally done in July — at multiple different times of the year, including the peak season for farmers.

“Hopefully they’ll go back to the drawing board and actually do their due diligence this time that they didn’t do last time.”

One farm in the area has more than 500 trucks a day using the intersection at some times of the year, Dickson said. That doesn’t include all the other farm and passenger traffic that moves through the intersection.

It’s good that the government listened, she added, especially with all the work she and other volunteers put in to stop the construction of the RCUT.

“It’s really exciting that they actually listened to rural residents. It’s really good news.”

Agassiz MLA Jodie Byram also said it’s good the NDP government is “finally listening to the community members” in Carberry and surrounding area.

“It’s great that they’re taking a step back and hearing from the people directly,” the Progressive Conservative MLA said. “It’s just unfortunate (community members) had to work this hard for the government to hear them.”

She said the government “took too long” to make this decision.

“Finally, the NDP are willing to take a step back and that’s essentially what we wanted,” Byram said. “Let’s just review things again, let’s have further consultation.”

Dickson said Wednesday’s announcement caught her by surprise, especially considering how last month’s meeting went.

“Honestly I wasn’t sure if (the government) would listen to anything, ’cause the engineers and the consultants (at the meeting) obviously didn’t.”

Both Dickson and Steen said they hope an overpass is the prevailing option in the end.

“They’re putting overpasses up all over Winnipeg on the perimeter currently,” Dickson said, “so why does the perimeter get multiple overpasses but the Trans-Canada can’t get any” west of Winnipeg?

“Hopefully, they’ll actually realize that rural isn’t lesser than.”

Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead said the decision means the provincial government is paying attention.

“It’s showing that the government is listening to us,” he said. “I think people will be happy and relieved knowing that the province is going to go back to the drawing board and come up with a different, more suitable solution.”

Muirhead also wants an overpass for the area, and said it’s better to do it now than keep waiting.

“I know it costs a lot of money, but you know, it’s not going to get cheaper,” the mayor said. “It’s just going to go up in price.”

“Do it right, and do it right the first time.”

The intersection, which is located in the Rural Municipality of North Cypress-Langford, was the site of a deadly crash in June 2023, when a bus heading south on Highway 5 crossed into the path of an eastbound semi-trailer on the Trans-Canada Highway. Seventeen seniors from the Dauphin area were killed.

Neither Kinew nor Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor was available for an interview Wednesday. North Cypress-Langford Reeve Ray Drayson and Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak didn’t respond to requests for comment.

» alambert@brandonsun.com