Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Two young pedestrians are injured on Hwy. 12



Two young pedestrians sustained minor injuries while attempting
to cross Highway 12 near Bergies in Howard Lake July 20.

Kelsye Jones, 12, and Andrea Voves, 12, both of Howard
Lake, were crossing the highway southbound at 6:45 p.m. when they were struck
by a westbound 1993 Ford Taurus driven by Audrey Tack, 71, of Cokato.

Jones sustained a broken nose, swelling in her right knee,
bumps and bruises, said her mother Bobbie Jones.

Voves was thrown over the vehicle, landing on the trunk,
Bobbie Jones said. She received a broken toe, and many bumps and bruises.

“They’re banged up pretty good,” she said. “But
it’s a miracle (they’re OK).”

The girls were one foot away from the crosswalk, about
12 feet into the street when they were struck, Jones said. The girls were
coming back from Tom Thumb, on their way to Voves’ house.

Both were treated and released, with Jones being taken
to the medical facility in Waconia and Voves taken to Buffalo Hospital,
said State Trooper Eric Mathwig, who was at the scene.

The accident follows an unrelated pedestrian accident in
November that resulted in the death of Rhoda Jean Peterson-Shealy, 55, of
Howard Lake.

In Shealy’s case, she was walking southbound in the crosswalk
located in front of the Old Town Gallery at 5:30 p.m., when she was struck
by a 1991 Chevrolet Suburban.

Both accidents are following the reconstruction of Highway
12, which removed on street parking and added turn lanes to the design.

Waiting for a stoplight

Of course, many Howard Lake voices once again are asking
for a stoplight ­ which is all up to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

In the past, and in other communities, MnDOT has demonstrated
time-worn foot dragging about installing stoplights, such as the one recently
installed at Highway 15 and Highway 12 in Dassel. The City of Dassel waited
more than seven years for it.

“We’ve worked for years on a stoplight,” Mayor
Gerry Smith commented, saying that the council has little say over a US
highway managed by the state.

The last push for a stoplight was last year, for a light
to be located at Wright County Road 6 (on the east end of town) and Highway
12 ­ pressed by State Sen. Steve Dille-R (Dassel). This did not succeed.

“We found it was close to, but not meeting signal
warrants (criteria),” Assistant Traffic Engineer Tom Dumont of the
Minnesota Department of Transportation said of the city, according to a
study done by MnDOT in February 2002.

In fact, a letter from Transportation District Engineer
Bob Busch indicated that MnDOT actually thought Highway 12 and Wright County
Road 6 (at the east end of town) would incur more accidents, because its
crash history is so low.

A crash history revealed two accidents over five years
for this intersection. The number of accidents at that intersection would
probably increase to five or six, which would exceed the two crashes, Busch
wrote.

Smith pointed to the 10 or so serious accidents that took
place in Dassel, before the City of Dassel successfully obtained a stoplight.

Interestingly enough, the City of Montrose ­ which
has a stoplight ­ recently had a request from Fire Chief Mike Marketon
to make the lights change again; since the light is steady green due to
construction on Wright County Road 12 and Highway 25.

The reason? “You can’t get on the road or cross it,”
Marketon said.

Making the lights change is also up to MnDOT.

What is the criteria for a stoplight?

The state requires several criteria to be met before a
stoplight is installed.

Stoplights are constructed based on state law that strictly
regulates whether one is installed or not, said Assistant Traffic Engineer
Tom Dumont of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The criteria are called “warrants,” and set forth
exactly what must be met before a stoplight is installed, Dumont said.

The warrants are set by state law, not by MnDOT, he said.

For example, one of the warrants that may be met is if
there are five or more “correctable” accidents per year, Dumont
said.

Correctable means that the crash would have been prevented
by a stoplight, he said. An example of a correctable crash is a “right
angle” crash, or what is typically known as a T-bone crash. These
are generally fairly serious, he said.

Warrants include some of the following, determined by engineering
studies:

Regarding pedestrian volume, the criteria dictates that
two needs must be met:

1. The pedestrian volume must be 100 or more people for
each of any four hours, or 190 or more during any one hour, and

2. There are fewer than 60 gaps per hour in the traffic
stream of adequate length to allow pedestrians to cross during the same
period when the pedestrian volume criterion is satisfied..

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