A safer intersection for Dodd, County Road 50
Upgraded lights to make for safer trips
This year the intersection of County Road 50 and Dodd Boulevardwill experience a revamped design in an effort to increase safety and efficiency, thanks to a joint Lakeville-Dakota County agreement.
This year Dakota County and the city of Lakeville will upgrade traffic lights at the intersection of Dodd Boulevard and County Road 50. The aim, according to city officials, is to make the intersection safer and more efficient. Photo by Aaron M. Vehling.
Left turns onto County Road 50 from either direction of Dodd have proven to be an exercise in uncomfortable forms of risk-taking.
“It’s a little like Russian roulette,” said City Council Member Matt Little at a work session last year, when a discussion of the project took place.
City Administrator Steve Mielke said the move is “purely a traffic-control concern.” There won’t be any trails or other additions.
All four intersection approaches would include a left-turn signal that would not only display green and red arrows, but also a blinking yellow. Only the west- and eastbound lanes of the intersection currently have red and green left-turn arrows.
Flashing yellow arrows allow motorists to turn left after yielding to oncoming traffic without having to wait for a green arrow.
“(The arrows) have been shown to enhance safety and improve traffic flow,” interim City Engineer Zachary Johnson said.
The standard green- and red-arrow arrangement will be active during peak traffic times, but during low traffic times the yellow arrows will be used, according to Johnson.
The city and county are splitting the cost of engineering and construction – about $45,000 for the city of Lakeville.
It will be the city’s public works department that is responsible for maintenance and energy costs of intersection lighting thereafter, with the county responsible traffic signal-related capital costs.
