Brownsville City Council met Wednesday, October 1 at Brownsville Community Center. Mayor Jean Meyer called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. City Clerk Steve Schuldt conducted role call; all council members and city employees were present.
Brian Pogodzinski, Houston County’s engineer, and David Tsang, District 6 Traffic Operations Engineer out of Rochester, Minn., presented to the council concerns in regard to the intersection at County Road 3 and Highway 26. The intersection is an entry point to the city of Brownsville.
Pogodzinski stated that the county has partnered with MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation). He discussed three potential options on what to do with the intersection.
Option one is to break up the intersection that consists of three roads and connect these roads into one. The roads connected would include Adams Street, 2nd Street and Main Street. The downside with this approach would be that traffic would deviate away from The River Station at 202 Main Street. This project option is estimated to cost $3 million.
Option two is to push Main Street more to the south and connect only Adams and 2nd Street together. This approach would make it easier for traffic to stay on the highway. Unfortunately, The River Station would not benefit from this option. Pogodzinksi acknowledged this option to be more viable than the first option and traffic would be kept off 3rd Street. This approach would allow easier access for semis turning southbound. The project is estimated to cost $3.5 million.
The third option Pogodzinski presented included a roundabout for that intersection. He noted that roundabouts are becoming more common throughout the nation, and that Caledonia is getting one. The roundabout in this situation, however, would be the least viable option and the most expensive, costing an estimated $4.5 million.
Councilor Pam Walhovd asked, “What is the big issue?” and how many accidents have occurred on that intersection.
“That’s an excellent question,” responded Tsang, who informed the intersesction is not a problem now but is troublesome in that it is unusually wide. As of now, there have been no major crashes. He explained as Brownsville grows in population size, there is a potential for increased accidents at this intersection. The intersection could be tightened up where the grass and gutters get curbed. “We’re trying to head off crashes in the future,” stated Tsang.
Ben Novak, fire chief, asked about lowering the speed limit when entering Brownsville. Tsang answered that reduced speed signs do not work because when people are driving they are not thinking about signs, their decisions are visual based. The wider the road, the more comfortable people are driving faster; in contrast, if roads are more narrow, people tend to slow down.
Walhovd mentioned La Crescent’s model with their reduced speed signs. Walhovd repeated Novak’s question in lowering the speed limit. “Signs don’t work,” stated Tsang, restating that when Brownsville’s population grows there will be accidents at this intersection.
Councilor Bill Fitzpatrick stated he respected what Tsang said, and suggested the area could have heavy law enforcement presence where people will then slow down. Tsang countered that once law enforcement presence was gone, people will speed up again.
Pogodzinski added a fourth option, which includes the grass and gutters getting curbed. This option would be the most cost effective, being a $.5 million project. Pogodzinski specified option four is only preliminary. Councilor Barb Hurley agreed with the fourth option as it is cheaper and will cause less damage to businesses. Hurley wants to see the plan more developed before further discussion, and would like to see the reduced speed signs first.
Council members, Pogodzinski and Tsang moved on to discuss the issue with people entering Brownsville too fast. “Our problem is now,” stated Walhovd, in that a resolution needs to happen now to slow traffic down, and recommended a reduced speed sign on Highway 26. Tsang insisted that if people were to slow down without officer presence, the road needs to be squeezed to make it uncomfortable to drive fast. Walhovd asked about the addition of rumble strips. Tsang stated that the strips will be loud and people will likely complain. He noted that something will need to be built to force people to slow down.
Mayor Meyer liked option four the best. Pogodzinski will speak with the state about funding options.
Fitzpatrick said he appreciated Pogodzinski and Tsang for coming down and that he, too, preferred option four.
The council will come back to the matter after looking into available funding.
The council then moved on to briefly discuss the following:
- The city will look into Hokah’s model for dealing with junked or abandoned motor vehicles, in addition to expenditures.
- The council voted no for allowing Bluffview manor unit #7 to put in a larger storage shed and for unit #10 to get a replacement shower that is a walk-in.
- Department reports were shared.
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