Lilydale Traffic Lights Get MnDOT's Green Light Despite Resident Concerns

MnDOT will continue to advance a project to install traffic lights at Highway 13 and Interstate 35E this summer, despite concerns raised by some Lilydale residents.

“It appears as though this project is destined to happen,” said Mayor Anita Pampusch at Monday’s city council meeting.

After filing a petition with the City of Lilydale in March complaining that the semaphores were unnecessary and would create traffic problems in the area, Lilydale resident Bill Ferguson, along with Lilydale Planning Commissioner James Maher, Lilydale Mayor Anita Pampusch and City Administrator Teish Stafne together met with Sheila Kauppi and David Sheen of MnDOT March 29 to discuss the planned traffic signals.

Kauppi serves as the project manager for a series of Highway 13 construction projects scheduled to take place between 2011 and 2015, including the traffic light installation.

It was explained at the meeting that following construction work performed on Interstate 35E in 2007, MnDOT received complaints about congestion on the interstate as a result of traffic build-up at the ramps leading to and from Highway 13.

The agency began monitoring traffic at the intersection and, following a subsequent study in 2009, concluded that traffic levels warranted the construction of a signal.

But those opposed to the lights are concerned that the lights will create traffic problems where there are none.

“Traffic is going to pile up behind the lights. Right now there are about eight entrances and exits (off of Sibley Memorial). You put a stoplight in and you got cars sitting there for two or three minutes,” Maher said.

“They (MnDOT) threw out some figures. Their last survey was in 2009–it doesn’t sound current to me,” said Ferguson. “They have their position and I have mine, and they (MnDOT) are going to be doing it anyway.”

Although the project was originally targeted for summer 2015, based on traffic monitoring in the area MnDOT changed the project’s timetable. With daily traffic counts of between 81,000 and 89,000 cars on Interstate 35E, depending on the time of year, and traffic counts of between 6,500 (westbound) and 9,400 (eastbound) on Highway 13, traffic at the intersection meets the agency’s requirements for signal installation.

The traffic signals will use “loop detectors,” installed in the pavement, to notify the traffic signal that it should change when vehicles are waiting on the ramp. MnDOT has the capability to change the loop detectors from a central location in response to inefficient changing of traffic signals.

The semaphores will also provide safety features at the intersection, including an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant pedestrian signal that will benefit the visually impaired. The signals will also include emergency vehicle detectors while making the overall pedestrian crossing safer for the more than 180,000 annual users of the River Trail.

Although he continues to have doubts about the need for the traffic signals, Maher was satisfied that residents’ concerns had been listened to by the state agency. “It seems like they (MnDOT) are interested in Lilydale’s problems,” he said. “After meeting with them, I believe we’ve been heard.”

Reduced speed limit?
Another topic addressed during the March 29 meeting was a proposed speed limit reduction along Highway 13. Maher and others maintain that the highway along developed areas such as Stonebridge should be lowered from 40 mph to 30 mph.

Formal speed studies conducted by MnDOT can be an uncertain venture. Results of studies are generally guided by what the 85th percentile of drivers has determined to be a reasonable and safe speed to drive, meaning that if most drivers travel at or faster than the speed limit, a reduction is not guaranteed. Sometimes speed limits are even raised, a scenario that occurred in South St. Paul in 2010 when a number of roads went from 30 mph to 35 mph.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, Mendota Heights Chief of Police Mike Aschenbrener estimated that there was a 50/50 chance of getting the speed limit lowered along the highway, and little chance of the speed being raised. Aschenbrener estimated that the stretch of Highway 13 between Lexington Avenue South and Moose Country Bar specifically stood a good chance of having its speed limit reduced following a study.