There were about 175 people lined up on a gravel service road near the intersection of Highway 5 and the Trans-Canada, near Carberry, on Thursday evening.
The province is planning to enhance safety on that stretch of road after 17 Dauphin and area seniors were killed on June 15, 2023, when the minibus they were riding in collided with a semi-trailer. Jordan Dickson, who lives 30 seconds away from the intersection, organized the rally.
"It was really good. Great to see the support from the local agricultural community," said Dickson. "It is a very dangerous option."
The province has previously said it would be putting a Restricted Crossing U-Turn (RCUT) intersection. The Carberry RCUT would include U-turns both east and west of the current intersection. It would force drivers turning left from Highway 5 to turn right onto the Trans-Canada, merge to the left, and take a U-turn.
Dickson, along with many of those in attendance on Thursday, is not pleased with the idea of an RCUT at that intersection. One of the reasons because that there is a McCain potato processing plant southeast of Carberry, which creates a lot of traffic.
"For a loaded semi-trailer or slow-moving equipment to be able to do that merge safely is impossible," she continued. "There are other options that would be a better fit for this area."
Dickson would prefer to see an overpass built. The province, however, has said that it isn't feasible at this time, noting how much it would cost. The province was at the intersection last year and came to the conclusion that an RCUT would be the best option.
"They're using traffic data from sitting there for two days last July. That's not a representation of how busy that intersection is," said Dickson. "During spring seeding and especially during harvest, it is crazy busy. One farm counted their trucks and on a busy full day during harvest and they send trucks through that intersection 500 times a day."
Construction is set to begin in early 2026. It should be open to traffic in the fall of 2026.