Safety review completed on dangerous intersection

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This article was published 16/09/2023 (998 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Left turns on a major highway are dangerous.

This is the obvious but important conclusion in a road safety review from the Province that puts safety solutions on paper and closer to a reality for the intersection at Highway 12 and Provincial Road 210 just outside of the town of Ste Anne.

Choosing one or more of the proposed solutions and an intersection redesign still need to happen for the over 10,000 vehicles going through the intersection each weekday.

Proposed solutions from WSP Canada Inc., which was contracted to write the 87-page report, include traffic lights, a roundabout, u-turn crossings, or a jug-handle intersection that would require drivers to turn right off highway to the other road and cross over straight if they wanted to go left — similar to the cloverleaf turn seen at the intersections further north on the highway, but without the overpass.

There were 17 concerns listed in the report from Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure. The highest priorities listed were dealing with left turns and the narrow median.

“Of particular concern is the accommodation of long and heavy trucks which accounted for seven percent of 2020 traffic volumes at this intersection. Trucks have to use the intersection as a single stage crossing and must ensure the median is clear prior to advancing. Trucks cannot stop in the median without potential conflict with other traffic movements. Several vehicles were also observed stopping in the median at the same time,” read the report.

The site investigation was done Nov. 15-16, 2021. Ten years of collision data from 2010-2019 was also included.

A total of 63 collisions involving 115 vehicles were reported in those 10 years, including 33 property-damage crashes, three fatal collisions and 27 collisions causing injury.

The main cause for fatal and injury-related crashes was failing to yield the right-of-way and leaving the stop sign before it was safe to do so, with 79 percent of collisions happening at a 90-degree intersection. All three fatal crashes were at right angles.

The most common crash — double the next nearest — was between northbound and eastbound vehicles at 17 crashes.

And the weather could not be blamed for most, with dry conditions 67 percent of the time.

Vehicle types by percent in crashes were automobile (60), pick-up truck (21), mini-van (8), unknown (5), power unit for semi-trailer (3), truck other (2), truck over 4,500 kg (1), and van under 4,500 kg (1).

The report concluded that the safety performance was slightly poorer than similar intersections in the province, but that there was a high potential for crash reduction.

There is a safer route one kilometre north at the overpass with Provincial Road 207, but Provincial Road 210 still gets plenty of traffic including heavy trucks and farm equipment going through.

“We haven’t had a major campaign for it but we’ve certainly encouraged it when people shared their concerns, or they’ve shared their fears of going through there. We do make them aware that is exactly what the overpass is there for,” said Ste Anne Mayor Yvan St. Vincent.

The mayor said the Town, RM and MLA Bob Lagassé have been advocating for the safety report despite the option of the overpass that connects directly with the town’s main street Centrale Avenue, which is also part of Provincial Road 207.

But he added that does not solve the issue of trucks and tractors coming and going down Provincial Road 210 towards Landmark, Ile des Chênes, St Adolphe, and the farms in the area.

“It’s something we’ve heard in the community for several years, of course some unfortunate accidents have happened there. And I guess we were always just wondering if that was something that Highways would start to look into, and they certainly have,” said St. Vincent.

After reading the report, St. Vincent saw the major issues of a small median, plus a skewed angle entering the intersection. But he did list some things already done to help.

“I won’t get them all but I know they put rumble strips approaching the stop sign; I know they extended one of the acceleration lanes or maybe more,” said St. Vincent.

More minor options to upgrade the intersection include longer left-turn lanes, more signage, and right-turn lanes for north and southbound drivers.

“I know they’ve hired a firm to source some options and present those options to all the stakeholders, so we’re just waiting for that,” said St. Vincent.

The mayor added that he heard something may come to the Town and RM by early next year.