Dicey ramp to I-694 is in line for a makeover

Last update: September 7, 2009 - 9:43 AM

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A couple of years ago I wrote a news story about some of the area's most dreaded freeway ramps. In it, I quoted Lindy Richards, who would drive miles out of her way to avoid the loop from southbound I-35W to eastbound I-694, where there is a yield sign and no room for a merge zone. "They're just asking for a death," she said.

On Aug. 29, there almost was one.

According to the State Patrol, a pickup eastbound on 694 collided with a semi coming up the loop. The pickup crashed down the embankment and landed on 35W.

The driver remains hospitalized at Hennepin County Medical Center, upgraded from critical condition to satisfactory condition in the past few days, and the crash remains under investigation.

The current configuration has been around since 2006, when a shoulder on 694 was converted to an exit-only lane. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is planning another redo, perhaps as early as this spring, said Todd Kramascz, metro district spokesman.

Under one plan, 694 would be restriped so that two main lanes would be shifted toward the median, providing drivers with "more of a place to merge, at least 30 feet more," he said. A more extensive plan would widen the overpass and create a physically separate "weave" lane for those entering and exiting.

Road design can't prevent every tragedy, but it can improve the odds.

A hungry bus driver

This year's Minnesota State Fair marked the first time since 1993 that Metro Transit didn't operate any of the free shuttles, and fairgoers reported some longer wait times (as well as comfier seats). Service was different in other ways, too -- just ask my colleague Jane.

As she was riding a motorcoach back toward the Highcrest park-and-ride lot around 9 p.m. on the first Sunday of the fair, the driver announced a hankering for some kettle corn. She'd driven past a popcorn vendor outside the fair numerous times, and she asked whether anyone aboard her fully loaded bus would mind if she stopped and bought some.

Jane said that before anyone could really answer, the bus pulled over on busy Snelling Avenue. The driver hopped out, made her purchase and triumphantly held up the large, floppy bags, prompting much laughter. A round of applause greeted her when she climbed back aboard, though she didn't share the corn, as she'd hinted.

Steve Grans, the fair's transportation manager, had heard quite a few stories, but he hadn't heard that one. After he stopped chuckling, he turned serious, and I could almost hear him shaking his head. "That is definitely against the policy," he said, and pledged to look into it.

Speaking of the fair

Roadguy had a great time serving as emcee of the University of Minnesota's "Transportation Jeopardy" game on Friday at the fair. Congrats to Bryan Clair, Paul Ackerman, Suzy Bergstrom and Bob Lillevole, who won Razor scooters by answering fast-paced questions about everything from Amelia Earhart to the gas tax.

Jim Foti can be reached at 612-673-4491 or roadguy@startribune.com.