Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 24, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 CROSSTOWN CIVIC CREDIT UNION www. crosstowncivic. mb. ca Call for details. ( Some conditions may apply.) FREE CHEQUING FOR 1 YEAR FREE MORTGAGE TRANSFERS PLUS PATRONAGE REBATES COMPETITIVE RATES Friday July 26 GATES OPEN 5PM KICK OFF 7PM Ride Winnipeg Transit Bomber Fan Fare 4pm Park and Ride 5: 30 pm Bring non perishable food and support Winnipeg Harvest and get your picture taken with the Grey Cup located East Side Plaza vs. ticketmaster. ca 7: 00 pm CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 2013 B 1 A NOTORIOUS stretch of highway west of Winnipeg is once again in the spotlight - and for tragic reasons. The Trans- Canada Highway west of the Perimeter Highway, through Headingley to the weigh station that serves as a final point of reference before the Prairie sky meets the horizon, has long been considered a treacherous chunk of real estate for Manitoba drivers. The roadway found its way into the news again Monday night when a 21- year- old man was killed after a semitrailer crossed over the centre line of the four- lane highway and slammed head- on into his pickup truck near the K. Bosch & Sons Greenhouse and the Motel 6. A memorial left at the roadside identified the deceased as Derek Bossuyt. His family has asked media for privacy and is not commenting at this time. The victim was the lone occupant of the pickup truck. The driver of the semi, a 33- year- old Edmonton man, was treated for minor injuries in hospital and then taken into police custody, the RCMP said Tuesday. A witness who did not want to be named but identified himself as the victim's cousin, said the pickup had just left the ball diamonds at the John Blumberg Softball Complex and was heading east when it was struck headon by the westbound semi- trailer about 9: 30 p. m. Monday. RCMP confirmed it appeared the semi- trailer crossed the centre line and hit the eastbound pickup truck. Sgt. Line Karpish, spokeswoman for the RCMP in Manitoba, said the investigation is continuing but that no charges had yet been laid. The stretch of highway is not divided by a barrier wall or boulevard. It's a situation that's begging for more accidents and fatalities the longer it goes without being addressed, say those who drive the stretch regularly. " It's just way too busy, so I'm not surprised there was an accident," said Jacob Hengstmengel, a long- haul driver with 17 years of experience. The 37- year- old from Lethbridge, Alta., transports cargo between Winnipeg and Alberta and says the uneasiness isn't just in his cab. Truckers talk, and they don't have anything nice to say about the sevenkilometre run. " We ( drivers) always talk about this stretch and it's an issue," Hengstmengel said outside the Flying J truck stop. " We're relatively safe in our big trucks; other drivers in smaller cars are really at risk. " I'm surprised they ( serious accidents) don't happen more out here." " Very dangerous," said another driver, who didn't want his name used for fear he'll get in trouble with his company. " To have four lanes like this, side by side, with this amount of traffic is just asking for trouble." Those words match the feelings of Headingley Mayor Wilf Taillieu. Pointing to daily traffic volume numbers that range from 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles a day, Taillieu said his municipality has been trying to get the provincial government to invest in the area for nearly 20 years. With the potential for an even busier roadway once the nearby CentrePort is completed, his worry is growing. " We've tried to get the province to divide the highway with a centre median and provide service roads and access to business, which would have prevented some of these accidents over the years," Taillieu said Tuesday. " It's been very tough getting money out of the province to get this highway finished." A provincial official said the government recognizes the perils of the stretch of Trans- Canada Highway west of the Perimeter. During the past several years, the federal and provincial governments have financed safety improvements along the busy road, but a few sections remain unfinished, including the scene of Monday's crash. Lance Vigfusson, assistant deputy minister of engineering and operations with Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, said in the past there were far too many access points to the Trans- Canada in the Headingley area. The plan is to have all local traffic enter the highway from access roads leading to controlled intersections. Barriers are also being erected to divide the highway as improvements are made. The next phase of the project is the section between the John Blumberg golf course and the Husky/ Coverall intersection. " That work has been tendered and awarded and work will start later this summer," Vigfusson said Tuesday. " It will be a two- year project that will see that location divided." The stretch in which the crash occurred will also be upgraded, but that project will have to await implementation of a new Canada- Manitoba infrastructure deal. " It's in our plans. And we certainly will be looking to advance that project for cost- sharing with the feds when they develop the details of the new ( infrastructure) programs," Vigfusson said. adam. wazny@ freepress. mb. ca - with files from Larry Kusch and Jason Bell High traffic JUST how dangerous is the Trans- Canada Highway immediately west of Winnipeg? According to Sgt. Line Karpish, the media spokeswoman for the RCMP in Manitoba, Monday night's fatality on the stretch of road between the Perimeter Highway and just over a kilometre past the weigh station was the first since March 2010 when a man was killed in a single- vehicle rollover near the weigh station, with speed, alcohol and no seatbelt being factors in the incident. Prior to that, three people died in a fiery head- on collision in October 2007 ( alcohol was once again in play) and another person was killed when a vehicle hit a patch of ice and spun out into an oncoming vehicle in January 2006. There have been six fatalities in the past seven years, with alcohol being a factor in four of the deaths. From June 2011 to June 2013, RCMP report 11 collisions that resulted in injury ( most stemming from rear- end crashes) and 84 accidents that saw vehicles damaged in minor collisions. The speed limit in the area is 70 km/ h, but it's not unusual to see traffic pushing the pace to 80 km/ h or even 90 km/ h in some areas. The province says there are no plans to lower the limit. The RM of Headingley says an average of 18,000 to 20,000 vehicles drive through that stretch daily. - Wazny ' We ( drivers) always talk about this stretch and it's an issue' - long- haul driver Jacob Hengstmengel Tragedy renews safety concerns Area residents have long said Trans- Canada stretch unsafe By Adam Wazny JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS People comfort each other at the scene of a fatal head- on collision between a pickup truck and a semi on the Trans- Canada in Headingley Monday. N Trans- Canada Highway John Blumberg Softball Complex An eastbound pickup truck was struck by semi- trailer that crossed the centre line, RCMP say MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Veteran trucker Jacob Hengstmengel says the Headingley- area stretch of the Trans- Canada Highway is an unpopular one among his fellow drivers. B_ 01_ Jul- 24- 13_ FP_ 01. indd B1 7/ 23/ 13 10: 11: 50 PM ;