MnDOT looks at fixes for crash-prone Lafayette Bridge

The Minnesota Department of Transportation rebuilt the Lafayette Bridge on the east side of downtown St. Paul in the mid-2010s. After it reopened, crashes on the northbound side increased fourfold.

Now the agency is devising some new road designs to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and cut down on the number of wrecks at the pinch point where northbound Hwy. 52 ends and drivers must turn onto E. 7th Street or take a ramp to access eastbound or westbound Interstate 94 or northbound Interstate-35E.

“What was built in 2015 is not working,” MnDOT’s North Area Engineer Chris Bower said during a recent online open house the agency held to seek public input on fixing the problem. “The numbers speak for themselves.”

Before the bridge was rebuilt, MnDOT records showed 73 crashes on the segment of Hwy. 52 between Plato Boulevard and the I-94 and 7th Street interchange.

There were 290 crashes between 2017 and 2018, two years after the new bridge opened, the most recent data available. That’s a fourfold increase. The agency said the crash rate at the interchange is nine times that of nearby roads.

Crashes — most of them fender benders — often happen as bottlenecks form and motorists weave in and out of traffic while trying to get into the proper lane to make their turn. And it’s not always intuitive.

Motorists going to 7th Street get in the far right lane. Drivers going to westbound I-94 or I-35E make a right turn from the center lane. Where it gets complicated is that drivers going to eastbound I-94 make a right turn by getting in the far left lane.

MnDOT in 2021 installed additional signs and pavement markings to get drivers in the proper lane sooner and put up electronic boards to warn of congestion.

The agency came up with about 30 ideas during brainstorming that started two years ago. Some have been eliminated, but others are still in play. One includes expanding the connection westbound I-94 from one lane to two. Another would add a single-lane bridge carrying drivers going to northbound I-35E over the freeway, then take a ramp that loops under the new bridge to finish the movement. A third would realign 7th Street by moving it farther north, modifying other connections and adding a ramp from westbound I-94 to southbound Hwy. 52.

Chris Borgeson, who attended the online meeting, suggested MnDOT put in a double yellow line between the center and far left lane starting near Butler Avenue, then adding a camera to ticket drivers who cross it. He also suggested adding movable barriers between the two lanes to prevent those who bypass the line of vehicles queuing up to go from northbound 52 to westbound I-94 and northbound 35E and cut in at the last minute.

“{It’s} a major cause of accidents and exacerbates the congestion issues,” he said.

MnDOT is taking comments through an online survey. But any changes are years away as the project is currently unfunded.