A team from MnDOT is planning to attend the July 19 Becker City Council meeting to formally propose some safety improvements to the intersection of Hwy. 10 and Sherburne Ave.

 

Also, MnDOT will hold a public outreach meeting Aug. 18 at the Becker Community Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.

 

Crossing the four-lane intersection at Sherburne Ave. along Hwy. 10 has been a contentious problem for commuters as well as city officials who have been working to resolve the crossing that has been the scene of multiple accidents over the years.

 

MnDOT will be proposing a “reduced conflict intersection” at the meetings that is designed to decrease fatalities and injuries caused by broadside crashes on four-lane divided highways. In some parts of the country, RCIs are sometimes referred to as J-turns or RCUTs.

 

With an RCI, drivers from the side street only have to be concerned with one direction of traffic on the highway at a time. One wouldn’t need to wait for a gap in both directions to cross a major road. 

 

Traditional four-lane divided highway intersections have an elevated risk of severe right-angle crashes (commonly called “T-bone” crashes), especially for drivers attempting to cross all four lanes of traffic or turn left. At a traditional intersection, motorists from the side street need to look in both directions to cross a four-lane divided highway. Left turns require the same level of attention.

 

In an RCI, drivers always make a right turn, followed by a U-turn. Motorists approaching divided highways from a side street are not allowed to make left turns or cross traffic; instead, they are required to turn right onto the highway and then make a U-turn at a designated median opening. This reduces potential conflict points and increases safety. Generally, the delay caused by a signal is greater than the delay caused by the RCI.

 

Similar RCI crossings are located in Willmar, Belle Plaine, Jordan, Cologne, Ham Lake, Cotton and Lake Elmo as well as one located right here in Becker at the Hwy. 10 and Co. Rd. 8 crossing. MnDOT also plans to build additional RCIs in the next five years in Cannon Falls, Vermillion, Zumbrota, Ramsey, Oakdale and Pequot Lakes.

 

Studies show a 70 percent reduction in fatalities and a 42 percent reduction in injury crashes where RCIs are used.

 

RCIs can be designed and built in approximately one year. Interchanges typically take 3-5 years.

 

RCIs are often less expensive than constructing an intersection with a stop light and are a fraction the cost of building an interchange.