Province shares top 4 options to improve safety at intersection of PTH 12 and PR 210

Ste. Anne residents got a look at four options from the province during an open house that looked at ways to improve safety at the intersection of highways 12 and 210. 

Mayor Yvan St. Vincent says he does not have a strong preference. 

“There’s definitely pros and cons to all of them,” he says. “I think what’s important is to make it as safe as possible. That’s really what I’m interested in.” 

Town Councillor Cornie Klassen likes the plan for a roundabout, saying that it makes most sense of the four alternatives that were presented. 

Based on the written comments that were given at the open house, most people agree with Klassen. 

Aurele Boisvert tells us why he feels a roundabout is the best choice. 

“I’m used to them,” he says. “I lived in Europe for 10 months and there were lots of roundabouts all over the place. They’re so efficient, they’re safe, and if there are any collisions, they are at a low speed, and they’re glanced off. There aren’t T-bones or anything like that. So, a roundabout, to me, is the answer.” 

The other three alternatives involved a partial closure of the median, a partial closure of the median with a U-turn option, and a complete closure of the median. 

St. Vincent says he believes a lot of people were surprised that traffic signals were not presented as one of the top four proposals. 

“I think everybody expected that to be at least one of the four options, so they were asking the province a lot of questions about why the traffic lights wasn’t one of them. Even tonight, I didn’t hear the data, but they were suggesting that the data shows that traffic lights are not necessarily safer than the options they presented tonight.” 

A safety review was published a year ago. This summer, MTI is gathering feedback to evaluate before selecting a preferred alternative which will be presented to the public this fall.

Here are some of the slides from the PTH 12 and PR 210 Intersection and Improvement Alternatives presentation from engagemb.ca: