The Minnesota Department of Transportation has pinpointed the junction of U.S. Highway 212 and State Highway 22 near Glencoe as a “higher risk intersection” for crashes.
Weather permitting, by mid-January MnDOT hopes to install real-time warning signs signaling to drivers that oncoming traffic is approaching.
The collision avoidance systems, said MnDOT traffic engineer Ryan Barney, should help with right-angle or “T-bone crashes.” Approaching traffic will trip sensors on the signs, which will flash a warning in amber lights and letters.
Twenty signs will be installed across the state in the coming months. A total of 50 signs will be eventually installed, Barney said, “but these first 20 signs, they prioritized the list based on risk factors.”
A skewed intersection alignment, placement on or near a curve, proximity to railroad crossings, distance between stop signs on roads leading to the intersection, past crash statistics and average daily traffic ratios were among risk factors MnDOT weighed.
Source: Hutchinson Leader (December 4, 2013)