Changes coming next fall to intersection where 19-year-old driver was struck and killed

This time next year, Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler is hoping to see a big change at a south Winnipeg intersection where a 19-year-old man died in a crash last week.

By fall 2020, Brady Road is expected to be disconnected from the Perimeter Highway and connected to Waverley Street with a side road, Schuler said.

The change is part of a set of upgrades to the south Perimeter Highway the province announced last year.

"Over the last 15 years, there's been a push to remove basically what we would call 'mud roads' entering onto the Perimeter Highway," he said. "We believe that it is dangerous to have a high-speed corridor and people pulling off what's basically a dead, cold stop."

'One too many'

The province earmarked $19 million for the three-year program that affected 24 intersections along the south perimeter of the city, Schuler said.

He said disconnecting Brady Road from the Perimeter Highway seemed like the only viable option to make the intersection safer while not cutting off access to the Brady Road Landfill.

"I personally went out with my department, and we visited every one of those intersections and had conversations [about] what needed to be done," he said. 

Schuler said most of the changes at the other intersections included in the upgrades have already been completed.

He said cutting off access from Brady Road to the highway will hopefully result in fewer collisions at the intersection, like the one on Oct. 25 that RCMP said killed a 19-year-old man when a semi-trailer struck his car and pushed it into another large truck.

"Even if it's one, it's one too many," said Schuler. "It's shocking how many near misses there are. So before we allow any more of these to happen, it's time to act."

Changes for Oakbank intersection

Schuler said there could also be changes on the horizon for an intersection just northeast of Winnipeg in Oakbank, where a 24-year-old man died in a crash last week.

RCMP said two vehicles collided at the intersection of Highway 206 and Garven Road on Oct. 22. A 24-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene, and an 18-year-old woman was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

A man who survived a collision at the same intersection in May called on Schuler last week to make more changes to improve safety after the deadly crash.

The province made safety-related changes to the intersection earlier this year, but some are still calling for more to be done.

While there have been no additional changes promised yet for the intersection, Schuler said drivers can expect some coming soon following community consultation.

"We recognize we're going to have to do more at that intersection," he said. "We are looking at that as a very high-traffic — a very volatile — intersection, and there will be further announcements coming."