“It’s a nightmare,” said Viola Rae Kassing. “We’ve already had two deaths, and untold number of accidents since they put it in. I have been almost broadsided numerous times.”
MnDOT upgraded the crossing to what the agency calls a “Reduced Conflict Intersection.” It’s designed to improve mobility and increase safety. But some drivers say it’s a complicated and confusing design.
“Basically there’s too many lanes going in all different directions,” says Nancy Levercom who lives nearby. “You’ve got multiple right hand turn lanes and you have multiple J-turn lanes there.”
Think of a J-turn as a U-turn. To cross Highway 65 on Viking, you turn right on 65, drive up to another stoplight where you make a U-turn going the other way on 65 until you reach Viking again.
“If someone else is trying to get into that turn lane, they’re going to collide. I’ve had to avoid 2 of those accidents so far,” said Levercom.
She is so concerned, she’s gathered nearly 7,000 signatures on a petition she plans to present to MnDOT.
“The signs are telling you which way to go, but if you haven’t used that intersection day after day after day, you don’t get it,” Levercom says. “It took me awhile to get it and people still aren’t fully getting it.”
One point of confusion is making a right turn onto Highway 65 when there is a red light. It had been allowed if you are in the far right lane. Levercom says crossing the traffic on 65 to get into the lanes to make the U-turn is where drivers get into trouble.
MnDOT engineers hope to improve that situation by no longer allowing a right turn on red from Viking to Highway 65. They say it’s a change they hope will clear up confusion and improve safety.
MnDOT’s North Area Manager, Melissa Barnes, said engineers have studied recent crash data. She says prohibiting right turn on red is one short term step to make things safer.
“In reviewing those crashes we’ve looked and we decided to prohibit those right turns and take some time to review how that prohibition is working,” Barnes said. We’ll also adjust some signal timing to make it flow a little better so people won’t have to wait quite as long because that will probably increase delay at the intersection.”
East Bethel Mayor Steve Voss says the city is opposed to the right turn on red change. In a statement on social media, Voss said, “We encouraged MnDOT to continue to seek alternative ways to address the safety issues without impeding the flow of traffic at this intersection.”
Voss says he would prefer that MnDOT improve sight lines by relocating electrical boxes and guardrails.
Barnes says MnDOT will work on public education while closely watching the intersection for any additional updates that need to be made.
“Nationally these types of intersections increase safety around 20 percent,” Barnes said. “We want to make sure we are balancing safety and mobility. We’ve been continually monitoring the intersection since it was built.”
Drivers say new development in the area will just bring more traffic. They are pushing for an overpass. MnDOT says there’s no time line for that. Instead they’re taking short term steps to improve safety.
