Sherburne County is looking at setting a right-of-way policy that would make roadways safer and the design process more predictable for the public works department.
Last week at a workshop meeting with the county commissioners, Public Works Director Andrew Witter reviewed different criteria for establishing the right of way along county roads.
He said 30 people die every day in the U.S. from departure (driving off the road) crashes on roadways.
Lane departures are the number one reason for fatalities and severe crashes in Sherburne Co. and make up 45% of crashes in Minnesota.
Over the past 10 years, there have been 462 tree crashes in the county, with 10 fatal crashes.
Witter said although fatal crash locations are completely random, they are predictable by roadway style, type and characteristics.
“This is why we take a systemic look at the system, trying to make improvements based on criteria we know are hazardous,” he said.
Witter said the width of the right-of-way and clear zone along the side of roadways is a major contributing factor in crashes on rural roads. He said road safety improves as the clear zone width increases.
Currently, many county roads have narrow right-of-ways and clear zones, making it impossible to add bypass lanes, turn lanes and shoulders.
On roads without shoulders, many larger pieces of farm machinery hang over the center line, causing safety issues. It is hazardous for biking and pedestrians, and for school buses, mail carriers, garbage collection and law enforcement.
“If they don’t have a place to pull people over, we’ve heard law enforcement agencies they will not put themselves in harm’s way,” said Witter.
Narrow clear zones make it difficult for locating utilities and ditches, and in some cases, trees shade the road causing ice conditions in the winter.
Witter said wider roads and clear zones give drivers time to recover if they drift over the edge line.
“We don’t see a lot of tree hits on the state system. They’ve got clear zones. They’ve got wide right of way. They’re open, They don’t have trees or fixed objects within those right-of-ways,” he said.
Witter said the county should follow the state’s lead.
“We will see our fatal and severe crashes continue to increase as we continue to see volumes rise on our roadways,” he said.
His recommendation was to adopt a policy using the parameters that came from a workshop in November, 2016.
* During a full road reconstruction, clear the right-of-way to 50’ (on each side);
* On a road rehabilitation project or routine maintenance project that does not include widening the road, clear to 30’ or the end of the right of way, whichever is less.
Any deviation from the policy would require county board approval.
He said currently, with no policy in place, there is no consistency. Projects are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, which makes it difficult for staff to design a project.
Members of the board agreed there should be some policy in place, but did not specifically cite Witter’s recommendation as their preferred standards.
Commissioner Tim Dolan said no matter what the policy is, there should be a policy.
“We would have an expectation that a county road will look a certain way,” he said. “We can empower staff and give them more firm guidance so they’re not spinning their wheels and wondering what we’re going to say on any given project.”
Commissioner Felix Schmiesing agreed the county should have a policy, but only with extensive input from the public.
Commissioner Lisa Fobbe agreed. She said the process should include public hearings and input from townships and cities.
“When we’re dealing with the public, with people’s lives and people’s land, it is of utmost importance the process is respectful of those people,” she said.
Witter said he would bring the issue to the county development task force for discussion and recommendations. They will come up with some options to present at another county board workshop.
