MnDOT wants feedback on plans to fix congestion-riddled and ‘unsafe’ Hwy. 252

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has some big decisions to make as the agency continues to forge plans on how to overhaul congestion- and crash-prone Hwy. 252 through Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.

Over the next two years, MnDOT will have to decide on a layout for the busy and dangerous highway, which runs for about 4 miles between I-694 and Hwy. 610. Options include transforming the highway into a freeway with four lanes (two in each direction) or six lanes (three each way) and using shoulders for transit buses and possibly incorporating an EZ Pass lane.

At the same time, MnDOT will also have to figure out whether Hwy. 252 will pass over or under city streets that currently intersect with the highway, and at which of the five intersections along the corridor to build bridges.

“We are at a decision point,” said consultant Brandi Popenhagen during a community presentation last week at Discovery Church in Brooklyn Park. A second presentation will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Brooklyn Center Community Center.

For more than a decade, MnDOT has been eyeing fixes for the troubled highway that has three intersections with the highest crash rates in the state. There have been nine fatal wrecks on Hwy. 252 since 2003, MnDOT said.

“There is congestion, and with congestion come rear-end crashes” and other types, said project manager Amber Blanchard. And with 50,000 to 58,000 vehicles using Hwy. 252 each day, “it’s really difficult to get across going east-west. It’s not just vehicles, it’s for bicyclists and pedestrians. It is unsafe.”

MnDOT has started an in-depth Environmental Impact Study to look at how aspects of the project would affect noise, storm water run off, air quality, traffic volumes, biological resources (think the rusty patched bumblebee and nearby Mississippi River), and the big one on many peoples’ minds, property.

Blanchard said she was unsure how many homes, businesses and community buildings would be taken, but that MnDOT would try to keep it to a minimum.

“They are valuable members of the community,” she said.

Blanchard said the project that won’t start construction until 2029 is aimed at improving safety for users of all modes of transportation and providing more reliable trip times. She said MnDOT is asking for the public’s feedback, which will factor into any decisions.

“We want to know what people think,” she said.

Jesse Christensen, a Brooklyn Park resident, was not shy about giving her opinions during Thursday’s meeting. She said the highway, even with all its traffic lights, is not the problem, but rather it’s the people who drive on it.

“The biggest problem is that it’s a free-for-all because nobody patrols it,” she said, adding that some of the traffic issues could be solved by having state troopers or city police present.

Christensen said she could support turning Hwy. 252 into a slow-speed expressway, which was one of the original options but is no longer in the running. She opposed closing off access to Hwy. 252 at 81st-Humboldt avenues N., fearing that would send more traffic into her neighborhood.