A south metro intersection that had one of the highest crash rates in the state will reopen in the next two weeks, completing a long-awaited overhaul.
After two years of construction, including lowering a road and adding a bridge and ramps, the County Road 5 and Hwy. 13 interchange in Burnsville will soon be fully open to drivers.
Previously controlled by traffic lights, County Road 5 is now a bridge over the highway, with ramps connecting the two roadways. Construction crews also improved signals and frontage roads, added a noise wall and updated the sewer system in the area.
"For years, this intersection has had more than its share of motor vehicle accidents. On the statewide top 200 high-crash intersections, it sits at 21 — a number we can't accept and a list we don't want to be a part of," Dakota County Board Chair Liz Workman said at a ribbon cutting Monday celebrating the opening of the roadway.
Workman was one of many local and state officials at the event, including state Rep. Pam Myhra, who has lived in the area for four decades. She said people used to call the intersection "Blood Alley."
Hwy. 13 is a major corridor in Dakota and Scott counties and a common route for regional truckers carrying freight between Interstate 35W and Hwy. 169.
Between 2005 and 2007, there were 71 crashes at the intersection, according to Minnesota Department of Transportation data. That amounts to 1.32 crashes per million vehicle miles. The statewide average is 0.8 per million miles.
The overhaul of the crossing has been in the works for more than a decade. The project was initially expected to cost $27.5 million. It is now expected to cost $46.7 million, with about two-thirds of the funding coming from the state and federal governments and the rest covered by Burnsville and Dakota County.
