Part 2: Hwy. 14, Highway of horrors

Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

Blind curves, hills, narrow shoulders and semis are just some of the challenges facing drivers on Hwy. 14, which stretches from Winona to the South Dakota border. The highway’s two-lane segments are notorious, but today’s kindergartners will be leaving college before work starts on rebuilding the last narrow stretch.

In south-central Minnesota, many people have been hurt or killed on Hwy. 14, which has several two-lane stretches that are among the most dangerous in the state.

By Tony Kennedy and Paul McEnroe, Star Tribune

Last update: December 18, 2007 - 9:59 AM

Every time Al Forsberg drives U.S. Hwy. 14 , he sees death traps where others see the open road.

The highway, a mix of old two-lane and reconstructed four-lane sections, has blind intersections, heavy truck traffic, narrow shoulders and unexpected curves. It may be the deadliest highway in the state.

Since the mid-1980s, more than 145 people have been killed on the highway, which winds through 265 miles of farmland from Winona to the South Dakota border. On average, someone dies on the road every two months. And 75 percent of the deaths between 2000 and 2005 occurred on the two-lane stretches, state records show.

“Being an engineer, I tend to always see the smallest characteristics on a road that will cause death or injuries,” said Forsberg, the longtime head of public works for Blue Earth County.

“But I’m also a citizen, and I know how badly this highway needs to be fixed for everyone’s sake.”

He and other officials have spent years demanding that the Minnesota Department of Transportation overhaul the harrowing parts of the highway. MnDOT’s response, they say, has been agonizingly slow.

Over the past 40 years, just two of five major sections have been modernized. Widening one two-lane stretch of the highway where crashes are prevalent might not begin until 2023 or later. Similar delays — and the same frustration — are apparent across the state.From St. Cloud to Nisswa to Lake Mille Lacs to Remer, local officials are complaining about highway safety improvements repeatedly being put on hold because of lack of money.

In north-central Minnesota, for example, MnDOT has delayed several major projects that would improve road safety in a region that has seen fatality rates increase with the population, said former Crow Wing County Highway Engineer Duane Blanck.Right now, there is a $3.5 billion gap in funding through 2030 for preventive and corrective safety projects on Minnesota highways, according to MnDOT.

“There’s just not enough money in the pie to go around,’’ said Blanck, who worked on Crow Wing County’s roads for 32 years and is a past president of the National Association of County Engineers. “There’s just a tremendous backlog of state transportation needs.”Motorists who travel Hwy. 14 are more blunt.

“The carnage that we see along Highway 14 is a sad reflection of the unwillingness of our leaders to make needed improvements in our transportation infrastructure,” said Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, president of the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership.

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