Roundabout Coming to Highway Intersection Near Oak Bluff

The province of Manitoba is attempting to make highways safer for drivers.

Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler announced today that the province will be undertaking two projects in the coming months to target a number of problem areas.

The first project is the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of PTH 2 and PTH 3, just south of Oak Bluff in the Rural Municipality of Macdonald.

“This has been a troubling intersection with a lot of accidents,” Schuler said at a news conference Thursday morning. “Not only did we consult with community members, but municipal leaders and traffic experts as well.”

“We concluded that a roundabout would be the best safety measure.”

In a release, the province says research shows roundabouts reduce fatal collisions by 90 per cent and injuries by as much as 76 per cent.

Manitoba Infrastructure Executive Director of Construction Maintenance, Larry Halayko, says a roundabout will help eliminate the serious accidents that often lead to fatalities.

“It takes away those T-bone-types of collisions and if there are collisions, they will be glancing blows,” Halayko said. “It increases flow through the intersection as well.”

There will be signage and lighting implemented to warn people to reduce their speed when they are approaching the roundabout.

Halayko says an information package on how to handle roundabouts will be made available to Manitobans in the coming months.

Brad Erb, the Reeve of Macdonald, says this is long overdue.

“The challenge associated with this intersection is it isn’t at a right angle,” Erb said. “There are a lot of blind spots and there’s a high traffic volume going down Highway 3, which makes traffic stack up on Highway 2, and when you get into that rush hour traffic you get build ups and people make poor decisions based on the wait times.”

“Coming out of Oak Bluff, it’s almost impossible to make a left-hand turn onto Highway 2 because of the angles.”

“I’ve lived there my entire life and I’ve witnessed some horrific fatal collisions,” Erb continued. “We’re looking forward to finding some resolution and improvements.”

Schuler also announced the province will open consultations on 25 uncontrolled access points to the Perimeter Highway in an effort to make those areas safer. The province says an increasing number of drivers accessing the highway at more locations results in safety and operational problems.

There are multiple uncontrolled access points and median openings along the south Perimeter Highway, where traffic volumes are more than 30,000 vehicles per day, according to the province.

Schuler says there are about 50 collisions per year at these access points, but that number doesn’t include near misses. He estimates the number of near misses is higher than the number of collisions.

Consultations on those areas will begin right away, Schuler said. The end result will include some of those access points being closed or altered for safety.