Overpass to improve safety at dangerous Hwy. 12 intersection opens in Independence

With the snip of a red ribbon, Independence Mayor Marvin Johnson on Monday officially opened the County Road 92 overpass over Hwy. 12, culminating a yearslong effort to improve safety at the intersection deemed one of the most dangerous in Minnesota.

The $22 million project, which realigned County Road 92 with a bridge over Hwy. 12 and adjacent railroad tracks and includes a multilane roundabout, marked the latest effort to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes along the far west metro highway that once was dubbed the "Corridor of Death."

"This is a great day," Johnson said before the ribbon cutting. "We are grateful. The community has a north-south connection. There is no interrupted access."

County Road 92 previously intersected with Hwy. 12 at two locations about a quarter-mile apart. A 2015 Minnesota Department of Transportation audit found drivers on the stretch of Hwy. 12 between the two points were twice as likely to be involved in a serious injury or fatal crash than anywhere else in the state, said Gary Kroells, chief of West Hennepin Public Safety, which serves Independence and Maple Plain. The findings led to the creation of the Hwy. 12 Safety Coalition, which pushed hard for the upgrade.

"This is long overdue," Kroells said during Monday's event. "This will be an immediate improvement to save lives and protect the community."

To those who have died there, "we will never forget their families," he added.

Debi and Jim Pool, who live near the new overpass, took in the celebration and on bicycles were the first to cross the bridge.

"This is great," Debi Pool said. In the past, the Pools have avoided using the intersection because of the dangerous conditions and took other routes when traveling to Delano to the west. "This is wonderful. It is much safer."

The project was carried out by a trio of agencies: MnDOT, Hennepin County and the cities of Independence, Maple Plain and Orono.

"This is what can be accomplished when we work to reach a shared goal," said Hennepin County Commissioner Kevin Anderson.

When it was built in the 1930s, Hwy. 12 was a sleepy rural road that connected the Twin Cities with western Hennepin County, snaking through the countryside and tiny towns such as Independence, Maple Plain and Delano. But during the past 15 years, traffic levels have increased exponentially. Current counts show 24,000 vehicles use the highway near Wayzata, dropping to about 16,900 through Independence and Maple Plain.

The highway has not been able to keep up, and as traffic has risen, so have crashes. From 2010 to 2016, there were 24 deaths along the 38-mile stretch from Wayzata through all of Wright County. There were 239 people injured in a total of 811 crashes on the road during the same timeframe, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

The Safety Coalition helped get funding for a concrete median wall to separate traffic between Wayzata and Baker Park Road. Plastic lane delineators and rumble strips have been installed to the west of Baker Park Road. The improvements have led to a decrease in wrecks, Kroells said.

The bridge project took about two years to complete and included a summerlong shutdown of Hwy. 12 this year as crews finished work on the overpass and combined the two County Road 92 intersections into one. The work also included a new roundabout at the reconfigured interchange and another roundabout built just to the east at County Road 90 to help with traffic flow.

More improvements could be on the way. This summer, MnDOT completed a study to look at possible safety improvements on Hwy. 12 from Independence to Delano.

Kroells, who has been on the job for 26 years and has responded to numerous wrecks in the area, was not sure he'd see a new overpass at County Road 92 before he retires.

"I kept hearing, 'When are they going to fix this intersection?' " he said. "I don't want to hear that question again."