Improvements coming for Eden Prairie intersection after hit-and-run crash injured mother and children

The city of Eden Prairie is making some changes at a crosswalk where a mother and two of her children were seriously hurt in a hit-and-run crash last month.

New reflective sheeting will be applied to existing signs denoting the crosswalk on Mitchell Road at Chestnut Drive to improve visibility, said Eden Prairie Public Works Director Robert Ellis.

The fluorescent yellow material also will be applied to sign posts to help them stand out. Plans also call for a new sign to warn northbound drivers on Mitchell of the upcoming crosswalk at Chestnut, to be installed in the near future. The crosswalk connects a neighborhood with Pheasant Woods Park.

“We can do this now and come back with options for long-term considerations,” Ellis told the City Council last week. “We are hearing visibility may be lacking,”

Ellis said the highly reflective material has been placed on all-way stop signs in the city and made them 10% to 15% easier to see.

The crossing where the incident occurred is presently marked with paint on the street, signs and a flexible banner-type sign in the middle of the traffic lanes that reads “Stop for Pedestrians.”

State law requires drivers to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk.

Some people have wondered what it would take to get a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) at the crossing, to draw drivers’ attention that a pedestrian is crossing the street.

Ellis said Eden Prairie has been evaluating each of the city’s 388 marked crosswalks to determine what, if any, improvements should be made. The crossing on Mitchell would not qualify for an RRFB based on criteria that account for traffic volumes, speed limits, number of lanes, number and age of pedestrians crossing, and whether the crosswalk serves amenities such as schools or transit centers.

There has been one other crash at Mitchell and Chestnut since 2015, and pedestrians were not involved, according to MnDOT’s Crash Mapping Analysis Tool.

The intersection at Chestnut and Mitchell sees about 6,700 vehicles a day and was last evaluated in 2022. Ellis said the road would need to see about 12,000 vehicles a day and the speed limit raised to 40 mph to qualify for a flasher. The intersection is being re-evaluated, he said.

Ellis said city guidelines could be amended to make Mitchell and Chestnut eligible for a flasher, but that would mean about 40 other intersections in the city might be, too. A flasher costs about $40,000 to install, Ellis said.

“We are doing what is most reasonable and faithful to our taxpayers” while also making the city as safe as possible, said Mayor Ron Case.

More than 11,100 motorists who use Bass Lake Road to get between Crystal and Brooklyn Center will be on detour for the next eight weeks, starting Monday.

Hennepin County is replacing a box culvert near Major Avenue, and Bass Lake Road will be closed to through traffic between Brooklyn Boulevard and Bottineau Boulevard.