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Thursday, June 25, 2009
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MnDOT plans fall fix on problem intersection
Staff Writer BAXTER - Motorists using the Elder Drive and Highway 210 intersection near Home Depot could be in for a change this fall.
MnDOT intends to:
• Make the intersection a three-quarters intersection, meaning no left turns from Elder Drive onto Highway 210.
• Put signs up on Elder Drive directing people to use frontage roads.
• Encourage motorists to make U-turns at Inglewood Drive to the west.
Kevin Schmidt, MnDOT District 3 assistant traffic engineer, said construction is planned this fall.
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Rush hour traffic and the congestion and danger it creates at the intersection of Elder Drive and Highway 210 in Baxter near Home Depot - including two fatalities in the past eight months - resulted in a Minnesota Department of Transportation public informational meeting Wednesday at Baxter City Hall, where Dallas Young (right) outlined his concerns about the plan. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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The intersection, just west of the intersection at Highways 210 and 371, was brought to the forefront of city and state debate after three serious vehicle collisions, including two fatalities, happened in the past eight months.
On Wednesday, the plan was introduced to the public during an informational open house at Baxter City Hall, which also showcased the city's plan for the Highway 210 corridor.
Members of the public attending the open house during the first hour were generally opposed to MnDOT's plan and instead favored a signal light at the intersection and lower speed limits.
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The view of the traffic was made Wednesday afternoon during the rush hour. Brainerd Dispatch/Kelly Humphrey
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For sisters Jane Galloway and Joyce Bible, the intersection carries with it a story of personal tragedy. Their mother, Grace Look, was killed in a crash at the intersection in October.
Though they understand it might not be feasible, they both favored a stop light at the intersection of Elder Drive and Highway 210. They also wanted to see the speed limit on Highway 210 reduced.
"It's a very difficult situation," Galloway said. "The fatalities have to stop. They can't just keep going. We want stop lights so nobody else has to go through what we did, or get hurt like our mother."
Galloway and Bible also wanted the businesses near the intersection protected, as well as the neighbors on residential streets just off the highway.
"Stop lights would help traffic keeping going north and south, east and west, instead of going through neighborhoods," said Bible, who lives on nearby Flintwood Drive. "Stop lights makes more sense than doing a plan like this. Have it a little while then go to something else."
Kristine Hoheisel, manager at Hawthorn Inn and Suites near the intersection, said MnDOT's proposed changes would mean her customers and her employees leaving her property to go east would have to drive 1.2 miles in opposite direction.
She also favored a signal light at the intersection
"(Customers) are going to stay with my competitors, they're not going to stay with me," when MnDOT's intersection change is made, Hoheisel said. "There's a lot of development around there. They're going to kill all the business on the north side," of highway 210.
The future doesn't look much better to developer Joe Christensen on the south side of Highway 210 with MnDOT's Elder Drive and Highway 210 intersection changes.
Christensen was involved in the development of the Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and Home Depot sites and is working to develop other properties in the area. He believes a temporary signal light is the best solution because MnDOT's current intersection plan will cause more problems elsewhere.
"So we're not going to injure and kill people at this intersection, we're going to injure and kill them at other intersection or on residential streets because that's where it will push the traffic," Christensen said. "It's a solution that is only a partial solution and doesn't consider the overall effects."
Christensen also favored lowering the speed limit near the intersection because the trunk highway system in Baxter is no longer a high-speed system.
Schmidt listened to each concern and said designers and engineers would take them into account.
Temporary stop lights were considered at the Elder Drive and Highway 210 intersection but not included in the plan because there would be an issue with the signal lights being so close to the master signal controller at Highways 371 and 210, which controls the stop lights along the two highways.
"If we don't encourage at least 3,300 feet between traffic signals into the 210 and 371 intersection, the master controller is sensitive to traffic being too close to it," Schmidt said.
Schmidt also said he's heard concerns that MnDOT's plan doesn't fit into the city's long range transportation plan. He said MnDOT has taken it into account.
"The Elder Drive issue has now risen in importance quite a bit, forcing the issue of where should be the next major intersections on 210," he said.
For its part, Baxter presented segments from its long-range transportation plan that include moving the signal light from Knollwood Drive to Inglewood Drive and connecting frontage roads to other roads to the north and south of Highway 210.
Community Development Director Bill Deblon said MnDOT's plan has pushed the city's proposed transportation plan to the forefront because city roads will be asked to carry more traffic.
"Doing nothing is not acceptable," Deblon said.
Police Chief Jim Exsted said the Inglewood Drive intersection with Highway 210 should be as much of a concern as Elder Drive and Highway 210.
"Inglewood Drive, I'd have to say, has had more accidents than Elder Drive/210 in same time period. They just weren't the high profile accidents," Exsted said. "We're happy with what they're going to do at Elder Drive and Highway 210, but in my opinion we have to start thinking ahead to Inglewood as well."
MATT ERICKSON may be reached at matt.erickson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5857.
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