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just learn how to drive!?! Seriously, I can't believe the comments here and suggestions that are absolutely absurd! I drive this road every day and have been for the past year and never once have I had an issue. Yes, I have had to wait (and I am impatient). Yes I have changed my routes depending on weather (last months icy road day) and if I am in a rush, I will go 1st then to the Kirkaldy lights. But it's called knowing how to drive!  
If you put lights in there people will crash (like the other lights in town). If you put round-abouts, people will crash (like I remember reading about the other ones in town) and semis will find somehow to get hung up on it (I'm an ex-truck driver.....I know how "truckers" drive). If you build a diversion road, you will just move the accidents further north. I love (I am being serious with no sarcasm here cause it makes the most sense) the "merge lane".....EXCEPT there are 2 merge lanes going north out of walmart & safeway entrances and no one knows that they can use those MERGE lanes to get up to speed (which is 70km/h not 40km/h) and safely MERGE into traffic. Instead they sit at the entrance and wait till there is no traffic and then drive across 3 lanes to get into the "passing" lane. Yes this is a frustrating post to write, cause people just need to learn how to drive properly and be aware of their surroundings and IF you can't actually drive with a little common sense, then you shouldn't have your license any more.  
All these great ideas and IF the city decided to go with one of them, the next topics would be "major accidents from the north diversion road onto 18th....how to fix it" and "the city keeps raising my taxes". Everything costs money people, so the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to fix this "problem" is to learn how to drive properly or take transit.

Merge lanes are useless because people in this town do not know how to use them. A roundabout is a terrible idea, as stated above.

....the problem not the road.

that's my thinking as well. Don't want to put the blame on themselves, so they blame the road.

I respectfully disagree with your comment on diverting the traffic north.  
 
There are already traffic lights up at that other intersection. The problem with lights at Braecrest is not that they would cause more accidents in general, but that many vehicles would have a lot of trouble getting moving north again on the incline once the light turned green. That problem does not exist further north.  
 
The simplest solution is to close westbound traffic wanting to turn onto 18th and sending it north, parallel to 18th past the old Patmore's and up to the existing lighted intersection. Northbound traffic coming up the hill on 18th could easily be allowed to still turn east onto Braecrest.  
 
The toughest part may be access to the residential neighborhood on the portion of Braecrest west of 18th. Maybe there is a way to connect Oak Bluff Road to Outback Dr for alternate access, only allowing right turns at the existing corner.

Seems that the main problem, with putting in lights, is the elevation in relation to semi's. Wondering if it would be a big issue if semi traffic was banned on 18th north, from the Corral Centre to the lights at Keleher's. Might require a bit of upgrading on Kirkcaldy for the semi's to get over to first, but that would be easier than doing something at the top of the hill.

I never said to put lights in at that intersection....what I did say is that if you put lights there it won't stop any MVC's as people already have MVC's at other lights throughout the city. Diverting the traffic north to the already existing lights, will only move the accidents north and cost the city a pile of money building the road to divert the traffic that does NOT need to be diverted. People just need to learn how to drive properly! This intersection is no more dangerous than any other none-lighted intersections. If the people that can't drive have it their way, every intersection in the city will have traffic lights at it! If they do it here, than they better put traffic lights at the Victoria McDonalds to make it easier for me to turn west, or in front of all the strip malls going down 18th to make it easier to pull out from. Where does the stupidity stop!?!

I don't even know if that is a statistically dangerous intersection, but improvements are always needed and welcomed to smooth out traffic flown our roads.  
 
Brandon still has a lot of 'weird' throwback intersections, and yes, a lot of drivers that drive like they own the only horse in town.  
 
It's much easier to change a road than to change driver behaviour, because that is often nearly impossible.

Is the thinking behind the fact that because you were a semi driver or you drive that road everyday makes you an expert. It does not at all make your experience the same as everyone else! Nor does it make you a better driver! Tailgaters are ridiculous on Braecrest and are likely the cause of most accidents and maybe ‘they’ should be riding the bus because their not organized enough to leave on time as they put their aggression on everyone else.  
 
Traffic is not as difficult in early mornings as it is later in the day, makes a big difference in the time of day.  
 
Put the lights up, the hill is practically level off Braecrest. It’s not Mount Everest.

For a semi it is practically is Mt Everest.  
 
Ask any truck driver where the worst traffic light in Western Canada is, and they will almost universally answer it’s the one at the top of the hill in Medicine Hat on the Trans Canada. We don’t need to, and shouldn’t recreate that issue in Brandon.

I'm not aware that this intersection is a problem at all. I live on the North Hill, and never had a problem navigating this intersection. Well actually, I do when I use the merge lane going north bound. Nobody wants to let you in and sometimes I end up running out of merge room and drive on the shoulder before I can get in. But that is an issue with the mindset of Brandon drivers, not the intersection in question. For southbound turns it's simply a matter of turning once its clear. If you end up waiting for a while, there is always the option of establishing yourself in the intersection at the median... crossing the northbound lane first, then waiting at the median for the southbound to clear.  
 
Some of the options presented as a fix are crazy. Here are options I think would make the intersection better, while improving convenience at the same time. easiest first.  
1. synchronize the lights on both sides so it provides a pause in traffic with every light change.  
2. Installing a merge lane on the southbound side, to that drivers do not have to pick between making sure both lanes are clear before proceeding, or sitting at the median waiting for the southbound to clear.  
3. Not shut down the intersection but connect the service road to braecrest, to give drivers another option.  
4. Extend merge lane on the northbound lane to Mockingbird drive, and also use as a turn lane for turning onto mockingbird drive. (this is mostly for my beef with Brandon drivers dislike of merging drivers.)  
5. A reasonable combination of some of those options.  
 
Even though I don't think this intersection is an actual problem, I think those are relativity simple, cheap and easy fixes, compared to others proposed here. Some of those others create more problems then they fix.

UNTIL YOU HAVE DRIVEN A SEMI OR LARGE TRUCK simply put.... "ZIP IT" you have no idea of what is involved.

Yes, people have accidents at lighted intersections. That doesn't make your point. Using your logic, we might as well get rid of lights all over the city because we''''re going to have accidents anyway.  
 
1) Closing that intersection will eliminate all accidents at that intersection.  
 
2) Putting lights at that intersection may mean less of one type of accident, but may mean more accidents involving vehicles rolling or sliding down the hill when trying to get started again.  
 
3) Moving traffic to the more northerly intersection may mean more accidents for that particular intersection, but would mean less accidents on average because lights manage which traffic is moving at any particular time. At the existing Braecrest intersection the lack of lights mean that some cars are moving when they shouldn't be. That wouldn't happen further north.  
 
Yes, the best solution, as you say, is for people to learn how to drive. I can however tell you, now living in Winnipeg, that that is not going to happen. Drivers here get crazy impatient and do some wild things because of it. This is why we come up with traffic controls.  
 
Closing the intersection and moving the cars to an area that is easier to manage is the best long term solution.  
 
Edited by PuddleJumper, 2018-12-24 10:15:19

All caps and zip it? So nobody is to have an opinion on here except you? I can’t imagine that temper behind a steering wheel.  
 
Everyone has a right to participate in this discussion as far as I’m aware.

is a provincial highway, I don't think they will ban semi's. This is how we get most if not all of our food, clothing and other products delivered to our city. If it's not local I think for the most part the semi drivers use #110 bypass to get around the city, it's quicker.

There could be no possible way that a traffic circle would be put in. The vast majority of Brandonites have not one clue on entering or exiting a traffic circle, 34 st is a fine example of who has the biggest set goes first,don't use the signal lights that must be a option on some vehicles, now you add a vehicle with possibly 30 tires under it into the mix, OH YA!!! that's a accident waiting to happen.

The document from the open house last night is posted at http://www.brandon.ca/images/pdf/engineering/18M-01581-00%20Braecrest%20Open%20House%20Boards%20190228%20FINAL.pdf  
 
They are running a survey at this link where you can give feedback:  
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BraecrestDrive  
 
The link for the project as a whole is:  
http://brandon.ca/current-projects/braecrest-functional

Thanks for sharing this information Adam. Maybe you can make it into a "Buzz" discussion!

Why not make a south bound merge/turn into lane. Make 18th south 2 lanes from braecrest to kirkaldy. Make first bit of it a merge/turn into lane only, then open it up to both lanes half way down the hill so people can merge over to get into corel center at lights at safeway.. Then when turning south from bracrest you only need to be concerned with north bound traffic, as you will always have open southbound lane.  
 
They have done something similar on hyw 1 at Carberry where added 3rd lane for semis to get up to speed safely to merge in.  
17th street east and Richmond has similar expect its for right hand turns and you dont have to yield, but allows you to turn and traffic in left lane has to merge over safely to get to Pauls or turn on to park ave.

If the government and city fathers had designed this intersection with more thought years ago there would be no problem now . Did they think that we would be in the horse and buggy days forever ? Breacrest Drive should never have bee developed at that spot !

Braecrest and First Street will become a problem if they want to open an entrance into Assiniboine College, and they should.  
 
I like the underpass idea, east and west on Braecrest under 1st & 18th.  
 
The hill would be no worse for the truckers. That problem is real.  
You can NOT stop big trucks on a hill.  
 
I have lived here on the North Hill for 26 years. I often use 1st to go downtown and 18th to come home, to avoid the problem. The problem turning left off Braecrest and going downtown is the speed of the traffic. I have had a few close calls and I am not an aggressive driver. Some drivers go 80 or 90 up the hill.  
 
Let's put a tunnel under 18th, put a bridge on it and the problem is solved.  
 
If ACC opens up Braecrest East of 1st, put a tunnel there too.  
 
This area is growing fast and many people are moving here. It's going to get worse not better.

Orion's Belt . Just so you know Monterey Estates is privately owned property , so there we had to put up with extra traffic . a fight if

Monterey Estates may be private property but  
Mockingbird Drive isn't!

So, up until now I've thought that closing the intersection except for right hand turns from 18th to Braecrest and extending the service road from Braecrest to the Patmore property would be the best option. I've changed my mind. The extra traffic that you would see from the new units going up would mean that the corner in front of Peavey Mart would be a mess as people tried from three directions to get to the lights.  
 
A similar problem with making the intersection a right turn only coming off of Braecrest. Then you get a long lineup of people wanting to do a U-turn from northbound to southbound at the lights. There would be a ton of accidents.  
 
The solution is Quail Ridge but not the consultants' suggestion. Extend Quail Ridge all the way to Clare Avenue behind Kelleher's and Peavey Mart with a new street extending to the lights beside Peavey Mart. The service road in front gets removed and access to Peavey and Kelleher's get side entrances. This leaves enough room for long lines, avoids a traffic jam in front of Peavey Mart, and avoids people doing U-turns on 18th. You'd eat into the back lots of the two businesses, but the disruption would be minimal. Clare and 18th lights optional. Kal-Tire would be accessed from Clare Avenue.  
 
I've attached a diagram, NORTH is to the right.  
 
Edited by PuddleJumper, 2019-03-06 09:06:42

This is a great idea if the option is chosen to block south turns off Braecrest at 18th.

I'd imagine any restriction of south or northbound turning will just lead to more people heading down Knowlton Dr and just using Kirkaldy way more overall instead. Gets pretty crazy at the 3 way as it is during peak times and especially nuts when soccer starts up at the school and the street gets parked up for a mile. Traffic light incoming?

Hopefully no decisions would ever be made, using any truck driver as an information source.

Ban left hand turns off Braecrest. If you have lights there , then a safety concern will be when a semi north bound and loaded has to try to stop then start on the hill...

I can't believe this is an ACTUAL issue. If you can't operate your vehicle safely in that basic intersection, then you shouldn't be on the road.