By Lori Carlson, Editor

A traffic signal at 150th Street and Highway 13 might never be justified, according to a recently completed study of the intersection.

Mike Kotila of Short Elliott Hendrickson, the consulting firm that completed the study, told Prior Lake City Council members at a workshop last month that existing traffic volumes at the intersection “do not satisfy” the state’s minimum threshold for signal consideration.

The area, on the border between Prior Lake and Savage, falls under three separate government agencies – the cities of Prior Lake and Savage and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). Though all parties agree improvements need to be made, Highway 13 is considered a “management corridor” by the state and is not even on the list for funding.

In lieu of a traffic signal at 150th Street and Highway 13, the study recommends other methods of improving traffic safety, including a median separating north and south lanes, extended through the 150th Street intersection to restrict left turns by southbound vehicles.

The median would eliminate safety concerns about southbound traffic making left turns from Highway 13 to Zinran from the through lane, Kotila said.

Savage City Council members have reviewed the study recommendations and are waiting to hear comments from Prior Lake leaders, Kotila said.

Traffic at the 150th Street/Highway 13 intersection has gotten heavier in recent years due to the construction of Prior Lake High School and several residential developments along 150th Street.

Though the number of crashes at the intersection in the last several years doesn’t meet the state’s requirements for signal consideration either, a couple of high-profile crashes – including a severe crash involving high school students in 2006 – put the intersection on the radar for Prior Lake and Savage leaders, prompting them to order the study.

“The state doesn’t personalize it like we do. They don’t know people who’ve been in accidents, the kids who’ve been in crashes at that intersection,” said City Public Works Director Steve Albrecht.

Even so, the intersection of Zinran Avenue and Highway 13 experiences the most crashes in the Highway 13 corridor, he said. Students frequently take Zinran as a shortcut to Prior Lake High School.

“If you look at crashes in Prior Lake, this [Highway 13 and 150th Street] isn’t even in the top 10,” Albrecht said.

“We have a potential for serious accidents at every intersection in this community,” Mayor Jack Haugen said, saying another road – 160th Street – is a “zoo” when school gets out.

“But we don’t have a high school at every intersection,” added Councilman Chad LeMair.

The Oakland Beach intersection with Highway 13 has a higher rate of crashes than at 150th Street and “will become worse” as traffic increases, Albrecht said. The consulting firm also completed a study of the Highway 13 corridor from Oakland Beach Avenue to Green Oaks Trail. Right-in, right-out turns would be allowed at Oakland Beach Avenue and Zinran Avenue as well as at 150th Street.

The study recommendations will come to the Prior Lake City Council in a formal presentation at its April 7 meeting. Then, the consulting firm would refine the layout and get approval from MnDOT, followed by submittal of cooperative agreement funding from the government agencies this fall, Kotila said.

 Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.