There will be no roundabout at the Highway 75 and Main Street intersection, but there will be designated left turn lanes on Main Street and wider corners for truck traffic.
That’s the compromise state and local leaders arrived at in response to what studies show to be increasing crash risks at that intersection.
Luverne City Council members and Rock County Commissioners met in a joint Zoom session with state transportation officials Tuesday, Feb. 22.
Robert Jones of MnDOT commended local leaders for their input.
“It was awesome that we all worked together and the city and county made their resolutions known to us,” Jones said. “We really wanted to listen to what your needs were.”
He said the three local needs are to 1. reduce crash ratings, 2. improve pedestrian safety and 3. facilitate trucks moving through the intersection.
Jones and other MnDOT officials last summer had proposed a roundabout at the intersection, but local leaders opposed it.
City and Rock County officials worked together in December on a resolution in support of right turn lanes and updated traffic lights for the intersection, rather than a roundabout.
“This was the least invasive of the options,” council member Kevin Aaker said at the Dec. 21 city meeting.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Jones said traffic engineers worked on the alternate plan, but discovered that designated left turn lanes on County Road 4 would be safer than right turn lanes.
They also deemed that in order for trucks to turn right without swinging wide into the left turn lanes, the corners would have to be pulled back, and this would affect the city’s new planters and signage at the intersection.
“We didn’t want to impact those, but our traffic engineer said we wouldn’t be able to facilitate truck traffic and pedestrian safety without widening the right turns, which meant moving the planters,” Jones said.
In discussions with city and county leaders, he said there is plan to protect the integrity of the new corner aesthetics.
“The good news is these planter boxes and the city of Luverne signs, as they sit now, are right outside of our right of way, therefore it would be our responsibility to pay for and move those planter boxes,” Jones said.
“We will try to keep that sign exactly where it is but reconstructing the planter box a little further back.”
He said the state would work with local designers to complete the project in a way that the public won’t notice a big difference in their appearance.
The planter box on the Veterans Memorial corner will need to be moved, but the flags won’t be affected.
Jones said the state could also include in the project a fourth planter box on the southwest corner if the city wants, at city cost.
The cost for street lights and poles are shared 50-50 between the city and county.
“If the city wants these poles brown again we have to order them from the factory that way, that’s part of the city cost,” Jones said.
“So, we want to be up front about these costs, but we can make this work. We can do this all in the same project and have our contractor do it.”
These details would be spelled out in cooperative agreements between the state and local entities and between the city and county.
Engineers at Tuesday’s meeting used graphics and maps to show why the left turn lanes and wider corners are preferred.
Essentially, westbound traffic turning south onto 75 was increasing, as were the left turn-related crashes. They said it would move traffic through the intersection more smoothly and safely.
County Commissioner Gary Overgaard expressed support for the revised plan.
“We appreciate you guys coming down here to talk to us and get this thing figured out and come to an agreement we can be happy with,” Overgaard said Tuesday.
“The feedback on the roundabout was definitely a ‘no,’ but it looks like people can work together and we appreciate it.”
Jones agreed.
“Absolutely. You guys are the major stakeholders and you’re going to have to live with it when we’re done,” he said. But these are our roads, and we want to make sure they are built safe, according to MnDOT standards.”
Mayor Pat Baustian also supported the revisions.
“Everybody worked together to come up with the best plan possible,” he said. “Thanks for taking everybody’s considerations and comments into it. Working with everybody is the best option.”
The city and county will approve amendments to their existing resolutions and resubmit them to the state.
The Main Street intersection work is part of a planned 2.5-mile resurfacing project scheduled for 2025 on Highway 75 from Main Street to Veterans Drive.