The Manitoba Trucking Association has been consulted by the Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s public engagement contractor, engineering contractor, and by the department itself, regarding this important project.
Throughout the consultation process, the MTA has been open to considering the merits of all conceptual options for reconfiguring this intersection.
The MTA has technical concerns with an RCUT that may be possible to address in a detailed design process, but cannot be addressed within the scope of a functional design process.
Many professional truck drivers have had positive experiences with RCUT facilities in the United States, but the MTA also notes that the PTH #1 and PTH #5 intersection has a large volume of truck traffic, making this design less than ideal for commercial trucks to navigate.
Unlike the number of vehicle movements through an intersection and the conflict points that can occur, the behaviour of the driving public in an unfamiliar situation is much harder to quantify.
For this reason, it is difficult to predict how well the driving public will respond to an RCUT design, or how long it will take them to adapt, whether travelling on or crossing the Trans-Canada highway.
Having noted these points, the MTA neither supports nor opposes the RCUT design option, but the MTA does not prefer an RCUT as an option for this particular intersection.