Rumble strips previously sought for deadly crossing
Earlier incident spurred reaction decades Before Broncos Bus Crash,
On June 17, 1997, a family of six was killed at a highway intersection — the same place that a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos collided with a semi nearly 21 years later.
This April’s collision, which led to the deaths of 16 people associated with the team, led one rural councillor to call for rumble strips to warn drivers of the intersection. Documents reveal that the idea was already discussed — and dismissed — for the west side of the intersection soon after the earlier crash.
The 1997 collision prompted the investigating coroner to describe the intersection of highways 35 and 335 as “cluttered,” and to recommend changes to improve its safety. The findings, cited by chief coroner John Nyssen in a letter to the ministry that October, also noted that the driver of the truck carrying the family had apparently not seen the “STOP AHEAD” and “STOP” signs before the west approach to the intersection, where the vehicle was struck by a southbound semi.
“The coroner recommends that the West approach of #35 be made safer by installing an additional warning device,” said the letter. "He thought of a flashing amber light or the transverse ripples in the asphalt, but the selection of a device that is appropriate is of course left to your professional judgment.”
The ripples, common known as rumble strips, are a way of alerting motorists of upcoming hazards, traffic signs or the edge of a road.
The government initially cast doubt on both ideas, saying warnings like rumble strips and flashing lights should be used “judiciously ” and only in cases of “unusual” road conditions.
“Installation of warning devices at locations that would not show an improvement in traffic operations would result in a false sense of security for the motorist,” said a November response letter to the coroner.
But the ministry kept getting pushed over the issue. It sent the Leader-post three letters penned in response to concerns raised in 1998, as part of a small number of documents provided recently through a freedom of information request. The concerns themselves were not made available, due to privacy constraints, nor were the names of their authors. But the ministry again noted that rumble strips and flashing lights did not seem appropriate, before changing its mind.
In November 1998, the ministry confirmed it would install a flashing red light at the site. There was no word on the rumble strips, or on the coroner’s concerns about “clutter” at the intersection and its approaches.
Some have been raising similar concerns in the wake of the collision at the same site this spring, though there are differences between the two events. The Humboldt Broncos bus was travelling north on Highway 35 when it struck a semi heading westbound on the smaller Highway 335. That differs from the 1997 crash, which involved an eastbound truck and a southbound semi.
Dale Poggemiller, a councillor with the Rural Municipality of Connaught, told Postmedia in April that he wants to see rumble strips installed around what he calls “a blind corner.”
While the coroner’s concerns centred on railway crossing signs and a neighbouring building, Poggemiller and others have complained that trees on the southeast corner of the intersection could obscure vehicles travelling along Highway 35.
The government charged the Leader-post $300 for nine pages of documents in response to a request for all records relating to the intersection’s safety between the dates of the two crashes. There was no information provided after 1998, suggesting that the issue was not closely considered, though the ministry stated that some additional records had been withheld in full because of privacy considerations.