The Hennepin County Transportation Department is planning a major makeover of Osseo Road in north Minneapolis — and for Amber Brock, it can't happen soon enough.

Brock, a resident of the city's Victory neighborhood, said she's frustrated and angry about the number of speeding motorists using the center turn lanes on the busy corridor to pass stopped or slow-moving traffic "every time I drive that road."

Brock said she was recently cut off at the 47th Avenue traffic light by a driver who came up beside her, darted out of the center turn lane and back into the northbound traffic lane to avoid an oncoming motorist who was also illegally using the turn lanes to get around traffic. "I don't know how they missed each other," she said. "It's scary. It's out of control."

Hennepin County reconfigured Osseo Road between Penn and 49th avenues about seven years ago, turning the four-lane roadway into three lanes with dedicated left-turn lanes in the center of the road to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety. In Brock's view, it hasn't worked.

"I think it has made things way worse," she said. "People think it's OK to pass in the center lane. Residents are fed up with it and feel there is nothing we can do."

With pavement on Osseo Road nearing the end of its life cycle, county transportation officials are drawing up plans that may solve the problem. The county wants to rebuild the bustling corridor used by 12,000 to 15,000 vehicles a day traveling between north Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center. Using surveys and a walking tour last fall, residents pointed out problems with motorists using the turn lanes as a driving lane.

Drivers have been using center left turn lanes on Osseo Road as a passing lane. They will be removed under a plan to rebuild the road in 2022.

"That is a concern if [drivers] are doing that," said project manager Amber Klein. "Safety is a top priority for the corridor."

Plans call for removing center left-turn lanes along the entire 1½-mile stretch, which goes through business and residential areas and provides a connection to the regional trail system at Victory Memorial Drive.

On the south end of Osseo Road, northbound and southbound traffic will be separated by a 6-inch median between Memorial Drive and the "Devil's Curve" at the convergence with Penn and 44th avenues. Left turns at 45th Avenue will be eliminated, and a crosswalk with flashing beacons will be installed near Queen Avenue.

North of Memorial Drive, the layout calls for travel lanes to be separated by a double yellow line and a grass boulevard between the lanes and a multiuse path. The intersection at Russell Avenue will be reconfigured to allow right turns only. Access to Sheridan Avenue will be closed, and a stoplight at 47th Avenue will be replaced with a crosswalk and flashing beacon. A bus stop to serve the C Line rapid bus route may be added at 47th.

Work on Osseo Road won't start for at least two years. Until then, Brock has a solution.

"I will avoid it if possible," she said.

Changes on Hwy. 55

Drivers making left turns at Hwy. 55 and Argenta Trail in Inver Grove Heights now will have to wait for green arrows most hours of the day. Flashing yellow arrows allowing motorists to make turns after oncoming traffic has cleared will operate only from midnight to 4 a.m.

MnDOT recently adjusted the hours that yellow arrows operate after a number of crashes there. "It gives people less time to make poor decisions," said spokeswoman Kirsten Klein.

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