Proposed changes to site of fatal Manitoba collision spur mixed reactions from victim's family

Three daughters of one of the 17 seniors who died in acrash in southwestern Manitoba this past summer saythey want to seechanges to the highway intersection where it happenedto ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

At a news conference Monday, the provincial government unveiled alengthy report outlining three possible options to help improve safety at the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada Highway near the town of Carberry, Man., the site of a collision on June 15, 2023, between a semi-trailer truck and a bus full of seniors on a day trip to a casino.

The crashkilled 17 people and injured eight others.

Adrienne Zurba, whose mother, Claudia, was one of the 17 people who were killed, came to Monday's announcement in Dauphin, Man., "to put a face to what has happened here."

"We need to make sure something gets done in that intersection," she told reporters.

Zurba said she was pleased with the suggestions put forward in the report.

"It does give me some peace of knowing that they're working their hardest to do this."

WATCH | Manitoba considers 3 proposals to change intersection wherecrash occurred:

Manitoba promises change at site of deadly highway crash

8 months ago

Duration 2:02

A new report is recommending changes to the Manitoba intersection where 17 people were killed in a collision between a semi and bus last June. The province says it will follow through on one of three options a roundabout, a wider median or a setup that forces drivers to make a U-turn instead of turning left.

The report's three potential solutions include a roundabout, a wider median, or creating what's known as a restricted crossing U-turn or RCUT at the intersection, which would eliminate left turns and through options on Highway 5 and instead force drivers to make a U-turn to get where they're going.

Zurba said the RCUT option was one that stood out for her.

Not soon enough, say sisters

Her sisters, though, had mixed reactions to the report.

Valerie Owen, who watched the announcement online from her home in Selkirk, Man., said shewas hoping for something more substantial like a fully-controlled intersection.

She also had concerns about how long it might take forany safety improvementsto come to fruition.

"I guess I'm frustrated because yes, there was the mass casualty incident on June 15th, but there was also accidents there before," she said in a phoneinterview Monday evening.

"Why is it taking so long to do something?"

Her sister Sharon Wiebe, who lives in Alberta, echoed those concerns.

"It's been seven months and, you know, they painted lines and put up a couple of signs that's not enough because accidents are still happening," she said.

"And another two years before something more permanent is going to be up? It's poor.It gets a big 'F' on my part."

Collision data from roughly 10 years preceding the collision showthere were 29 other crashes at the intersection in that time, with almost half involving injury or death something the report says suggests "high-severity collision types are an issue at this location."

Just weeks after the fatal crash, three people were seriously injured in a three-vehicle collision at that same intersection.

Hearing about that collision so soon after was infuriating, Wiebe said.

"When I hear there's been another accident, like, I go into shock," she said.

"Why is it still happening?"

Raw emotions

Claudia Zurba, who was 87 when she died, was "a very active lady" and avid gardener who loved to sing in her church choir, Adrienne Zurba said.

The traumatic, sudden way in which her mother died made the loss especially hard to cope with, Zurba said, so the collision is still hard for her to talk about.

"Grief is one thing to deal with, but it's the trauma, the severity of the accident," she said.

Owen said watching Monday's announcement made her emotional, something she hadn't expected.

"It's still raw, I guess more so than I anticipated."

The morning of the crash, Owen had talked to her mom about going on the bustrip to the casino. The sequence of events that followed is something she says she'll never forget and still finds it painful to talk about.

"That day will forever be burned in my brain from what I was doing, who I was [talking]to, the sequence of events that unfolded, the calls to each other, my actions towardmy family at home, and my first reactions when realizing that, you know, Mom was on that bus," Owen said.

Honouring crash victims

The province has been in touch with community members about a grassroots-led effort to create a memorial for those who died in the collision.

Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said now that it'sbeen almost seven months after the crash, the community is grappling with how to move forward from the tragedy while keeping the victims' memories alive.

"[It's] something we'll never forget, but it's also something that several people told us, 'We don't want that to be what identifies us, either,'" he said.

"So it's trying to find that spot in between to be compassionate and caring, but to still be able to move on as a community."

Following the release of the report on Monday, Bosiak said he was happy with the recommendations but also the way the province handled it by giving the families advancewarning.

"I think that it just shows a level of caring from this government that I think is quite astonishing, quite frankly," he said.

The province has earmarked $12 million to upgrade the intersection. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said she expects initial designs will be available in the next six to nine months.

Construction would begin in late 2025.