05.02 Highway 371/County Road 29 Intersection

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Nancy Malecha From: Blesener � Sent: Thursday, October 11,2018 4:31 PM To: Nancy Malecha Subject: Safety Issues at the 371/Cty29 -Wilderness Road Intersection Attachments: Emails re Intersection.doac Attn: Nancy Malecha Please forward this to the members of the City Council ASAP. I am unable to attend the November council meeting, but I would ask that this be forwarded for consideration at that meeting. I am writing to ask for help from the City of Pequot Lakes with MnDOT regarding safety issues at the intersection of Highway 371 and County Road 29/Wilderness Road. I live near the intersection, and drive it daily. I have raised safety concerns in conversations with MnDOT. Neighbors have also contacted MnDOT and voiced safety concerns (see excerpts from their emails attached). MnDOT does not acknowledge that there are safety issues with the intersection. The traffic is moving too fast and the median is much too small: The 371 traffic at the intersection moves so fast (speed limit 65; speeds of 70—75 seem typical), it is very difFicult for a vehicle, biker or pedestrian to make a crossing or a left turn from Cty 29 or Wilderness Road onto 371. Typically, pausing on a median can help with crossing a divided highway, but the median here is much too small. The concrete portion of the median is only about 4'wide at the intersection. There is another couple of feet on either side before the stripe at the edge of the drive lane. On one side of the median are traffic lanes, and on the other side is the turn lane. 4' is not wide enough for a vehicle or a bike to pause and wait to continue to the other side. In addition there is no pedestrian crossing and no curb cuts, so someone on a bike must remain in the intersection, or stop in the trafFic lane and lift their bike over the curb onto the 4' landing(which is narrower than an adult bike is long). This seems to be the only intersection on 371 designed like this. MnDOT has indicated that vehicles and bikes have room to pause in the middle by blocking the turn lane. I tried that just once in a vehicle, and felt so vulnerable and exposed to the high speed traffic that I will not do it again. That means for me to make a left turn from Cty 29 or Wilderness Road, I must wait for at least 3 lanes of trafFic to clear before I can safely turn, and all 4 lanes must be clear in order for me to cross. If I am on a bike or walking I must move as fast as I can to get all the way to the other side. If someone is walking or biking with a child, it is almost impossible to safely cross the highway. For Pequot Lakes residents living on the west side of 371, access to the trail has been greatly diminished. There appears to be a simple solution to the median problem: reverse the location of the turn lane and the large painted out area adjacent to the drive lanes. Add the size of the painted area to the median. Ideally,the new enlarged median would be all concrete with a pedestrian crossing and curb cuts. There is a simple solution to the high speed: reduce the Hwy 371 speed limit to 60,just as it is south of Nisswa. 1