Snarled roadways of Devil's Triangle to get exorcised

Three years of work to untangle the notorious Brooklyn Park junction is set to begin.

By PAUL LEVY, Star Tribune

Last update: June 28, 2008 - 9:28 PM

It is an accident waiting to happen, the cornerstone of the Devil's Triangle.

This is the intersection of Hwy. 169 and County Road 81 in Brooklyn Park, the busiest signalized intersection in the Twin Cities metro area, a junction considered by the Minnesota Department of Transportation to be among the state's most dangerous.

Dan Reeves, a librarian at Rasmussen College, at the north end of the triangle, says he avoids Hwy. 169 at all costs, even if it means adding miles and minutes to his drive.

"No way I'm driving on 169 in this area," he said last week. "I've seen the accidents."

A MnDOT construction project that begins July 16 will create a diamond interchange that should relieve congestion and reduce accidents. But it won't happen overnight. The project is expected to be completed in 2011, raising new concerns along with the sighs of relief from drivers who have had enough already.

And there are thousands of them. According to Gary Brown, Brooklyn Park's city engineer, 56,000 cars drive through the area on Hwy. 169 every day, while another 24,000 drive on Hennepin County Road 81.

Add another 15,000 cars that drive through the heart of the triangle, down 85th Avenue (County Road 109) and throw in MnDOT's concerns over the intersection of that road and Hwy. 169, and there's a daily recipe for a quagmire worthy of any large inner-city freeway. And this is the heart of the northwestern suburbs.

Three years ago, the Hwy. 169/County Road 81 intersection ranked third on the statewide list of the 200 intersections with the highest crash-related costs, according to MnDOT. The intersection of Hwy. 169 and 85th Avenue ranked sixth on the same list, which considers the number of crashes, vehicles involved and estimated costs of the accidents.

With traffic expected to increase over the next 20 years, commuters appear ready to embrace a change -- even if it takes three years, or slightly more. The project is expected to be finished in the fall of 2011.

"The residents are excited," Brown said. "We held an open house at [the Brooklyn Park] City Hall on June 18, and people were overwhelmingly supportive."

Many were thrilled to learn that through the construction, two lanes would be open on both Hwy. 169 and County Road 81. But that's also the kind of double-edged sword that could deflate any commuter's tires and hopes.

Not closing the roads has added at least a year to the project. With traffic still flowing, improvements to the "triangle" must come in segments, said Chris Roy, MnDOT's north metro area manager. (MnDOT officials never refer to the intersection as the Devil's Triangle, two other MnDOT spokespersons explained.)

A bypass will be built the first year, Roy said. Once traffic moves onto that, then Hwy. 169's new southbound lanes will be built -- between Brooklyn Boulevard and 93rd Avenue on County Road 81. After that, the northbound lanes will be built.

Much of the area is the home to industrial strip malls. But there are several retail stores, the largest appearing to be Mills Fleet Farm, at the south end of the triangle area, on Hwy. 169. Those stores are expected to do business almost as usual, Roy said.

He also thinks "impulse" stores like fast-food restaurants and businesses on the western edge of the triangle, which may no longer be the recipient of a direct traffic flow, will be fine. Managers at the local McDonald's and Perkins on the Osseo-Brooklyn Park border declined to be interviewed for the story, citing company policy.

"From my perspective, most of these impulse businesses draw from a specific radius anyway," Roy said.

Before moving his Osseo Meat Market & Deli to the western edge of the triangle seven years ago, Dick Welk said he survived another major road construction project, when Main Street in Osseo was torn up. That was 20 years ago. The deli, which is 135 years old, has survived because the owners' philosophy never wavered.

"That road construction 20 years ago made us virtually an island, and it scared me to the point where I couldn't sleep," Welk said. "So here's what I did:

"I thanked every customer. My business is all service-oriented, which means taking measures down to even the smallest detail. If we're gonna lose any pass-over traffic, I don't like it. But the people that do come in, they know I'll take care of them.

"Put a little better face on. Know your customers. Give them a reason to come back."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419

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