MNDOT Lists states most dangerous intersections (Minneapolis, Plymouth: home, construction, school)

[iNviNciBL3]

MNDOT released a list of the (20) most dangerous intersections in the state. The most dangerous intersection is apparently in Saint Cloud. What do you think of this list? Is a intersection your familiar with make the list? and What do you think should be done to make Minnesota roads more safer?

Mn/DOT lists 20 most dangerous intersections | kare11.com

http://www.kare11.com/pdf/worst_cras..._minnesota.pdf

[Laggard]

Hwy 55 and East 26th is in second place. I hate that intersection. People drive way too fast through there. Turning left onto 26th from 55 can take several minutes of waiting for the light to change. It's also a nightmare for pedestrians cause of its size. A pedestrian was killed there last year.

My least favorite intersection in town though is 36th and Portland. Cars driving down 36th consistently blow through it on red at high speeds. I've learned to pause a few seconds before crossing that one.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Laggard

Hwy 55 and East 26th is in second place. I hate that intersection. People drive way too fast through there. Turning left onto 26th from 55 can take several minutes of waiting for the light to change. It's also a nightmare for pedestrians cause of its size. A pedestrian was killed there last year.

My least favorite intersection in town though is 36th and Portland. Cars driving down 36th consistently blow through it on red at high speeds. I've learned to pause a few seconds before crossing that one.

LOL, that's really funny. When I lived in S Mpls and heading East on 36th during the middle of the day, I had a school bus next to me in the right hand lane suddenly stop just as we reached Portland. He saw what I couldn't as someone barreled through the red light in front of us. I locked 'em up but still t-boned the day-dreamin' rat and busted up my car.

[uptown_urbanist]

My least favorite intersection in Minneapolis (as a pedestrian) is Hennepin and Lagoon. There are two turning lanes with cars trying to turn while pedestrians are trying to cross, and many of those cars are in a hurry. I've also seen many cars over the years try to turn from Hennepin the wrong way onto Lagoon. Traffic has increased in that intersection tremendously over the years, and it's a major through-route to the West Calhoun development and St. Louis Park. The combination of often-distracted drivers anxious to get home and make the light, turn lanes, and heavy pedestrian traffic is a bad one.

Outside of Minneapolis, the intersection that I like least (again as a pedestrian) is crossing Penn by Southtown (crossing from Southtown over to the Walgreens/Target). There are plenty of worse intersections out there that are so bad that I would not, unless VERY desperate, attempt to cross as a pedestrian (like the one out in Plymouth at 55/Vicksburg, even though it has at least ATTEMPTS to be safe, with crosswalks).

From a pedestrian point of view, there are a lot of things that could make intersections like these safer; they would, however, slow down traffic. I

[Squeamish]

Almost all of these are major multi-lane highways with fast speed limits intersecting cross streets, mostly at stoplights.

This makes sense based on their weighting (e. g. 70 for a fatal crash and only 1 for property damage) because the fatal crashes are more likely to happen at high speeds.

With the focus on safety that people (at least seemingly) have these days, it's unfortunate that the second most dangerous intersection is in an area that was reconfigured only a few years ago. You'd think that they would've predicted that when they redesigned the area. The Hiawatha corridor stoplight timing is a basket case, as anyone knows who has driven that stretch, but that's O/T...I just wonder if people drive faster knowing that if that light turns red on them, it's gonna be red for an unusually long time...

[Laggard]

Originally Posted by Squeamish

The Hiawatha corridor stoplight timing is a basket case, as anyone knows who has driven that stretch

Good god yes. I literally waited 10 minutes recently waiting for an arrow to turn left onto 38th. It was obvious something was wrong.

Amazing they can't get it right.

[xandrex]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

My least favorite intersection in Minneapolis (as a pedestrian) is Hennepin and Lagoon.

This one definitely isn't a fun one to cross. Fortunately, I'm not in Uptown all the time, so I don't have to do it very often, but I do find that cars get QUITE impatient when people are trying to cross. They definitely need to do something about it to make that intersection better for everyone.

[1stpontiac]

The only one there that I can picture right off the top of my head is Hwy 169 and 93rd Ave, up by Osseo. My guess is that most of the problems there stem from the end of the freeway portion of 169 moreso than the intersection with 169. Its always backed up pretty far there with people trying to get onto 610.

That stretch of 169 all the way up through Champlin is rotten around rush-hour. I've driven from downtown Minneapolis and had that last couple miles into and through Champlin/Anoka take as long as the rest of the trip.

[1stpontiac]

Originally Posted by Laggard

Good god yes. I literally waited 10 minutes recently waiting for an arrow to turn left onto 38th. It was obvious something was wrong.

Amazing they can't get it right.

Funny, I just drove Hiawatha for the first times not too long ago and was wondering if it was a lot longer distance than it had looked on a map, because it took a LONG time to get down it. But now that you mention it, I did spend a long time at lights.

Even a 9-10pm airport run the other day took much longer than it felt like it should have.

[audadvnc]

This season, the clear winner for bad intersections is Snelling and University in the Midway area of St Paul; not because of danger, but due to all the Light Rail construction going on down University.

As for "dangerous" intersections? Any intersection that allows teenage kids or 20-something, testosterone-addled males to enter (ie all intersections) should be considered potentially dangerous.