Results of unscientific test on three-lane Highway 75 yields 4-minute average
OK, it’s been a couple, maybe three, weeks since Highway 75 went from four lanes to three with the center lane being a turn lane. Many locals are probably still opposed to the change.
When it was first announced that the reduction in lanes was going to take place, the overwhelming sentiment at our morning coffee was, “Boy, that is a dumb idea.”
There was one guy that thought the idea would work, and that guy was me.
In a perfect world there would be five lanes with the center lane a turn lane. As you know, we don’t live in a perfect world — we live in Luverne, where we “Love the Life,” but not necessarily the three lanes.
I am by no means a traffic flow expert, but I have listened to a lot of people complain how much longer it takes to drive down Highway 75 under the current three-lane system.
I am willing to bet not one of those complainers has actually timed the trip.
I have timed the trip from I-90 to the hospital 15 times over the last two weeks at various times of the day.
I have tried and failed to get caught up in the morning traffic at the school. It seems if you drive by at 8:05 in the morning you miss that crunch.
So for this traffic flow study, take the school area out of the equation.
Here are a couple of benchmarks for you. The fastest time within the law one can travel from the interstate to the hospital is four minutes. Keep in mind that is with no delays of any kind.
By no delays, I mean I didn’t have to slow down for the blinking yellow lights by the school, I never had to stop at the stoplight, nor did I ever get behind a tractor pulling a grain wagon or a semi trying to get up the hill heading north from the stoplight.
So again, the best possible time from one end of town to the other takes four minutes.
By comparison it takes two minutes 37 seconds to go through the McDonald’s drive-up window for a large cup of coffee, and that was with no delays.
Again, I have timed this trip 15 times and I have tried to hit a stoplight when it’s red and hoped I got behind a slow-moving vehicle of any kind.
It took four trips back and forth before I finally got stopped at a red light. I was the second car in line, and it added a minute to the overall trip.
Another time I got lucky enough (for study purposes) to get behind a tractor pulling two grain wagons headed north. I got behind the tractor with wagons in tow about at Subway.
I followed him north though the stoplight intersection, and he turned west at the school, so unfortunately I didn’t get to follow him all the way through town. Following him that distance did add 37 seconds to the trip, so it might have been a minute total.
I know some folks will disagree with my findings, and many of you have no doubt experienced longer delays. But I am willing to bet, unless you are in some sort of traffic accident, it will never take you twice as long to get from one end to the other.
If by chance it does, that would only be an extra four minutes. My advice to you would be to use this time to relax and “Love the Life” in Luverne.