Commentary; Posted: 8/23/06
Fatal Wyoming crash points to problems
By Cliff Buchan
Weíve long felt that the downtown intersection in Wyoming, US-61 and Viking Blvd., was an accident waiting to happen.
Last weekís death of 84-year-old Leonard Peltier in a three-car crash at that intersection was a stark reminder of the danger that exists there.
The signal lights that control the intersection have been a welcome addition, but the continuation of a 40 mile an hour speed limit is hard to understand.
Allowing 40 miles an hour seems way too fast for this key intersection in a downtown business district.
This is not to say that speed was at fault in Peltierís death. Rain and wet road conditions are equally to blame. There likely are other factors that led to the crash.
But even on a sunny, blue bird sky day, many take pause as they witness near misses at the intersection. Customers in the Viking Professional Building barbershop can imagine, in slow motion, the sight of a vehicle pinballing through the intersection and crashing into the lower level shop.
Slowing the traffic on US-61 and on north to old Highway 61 is one step that should be considered.
The state has had the wisdom to drop the speed limit in front of Wyoming Elementary School to 50 miles an hour, but has turned a blind eye to this area to the north.
Now is the time to consider the same for this stretch of highway in downtown Wyoming.
There is another state issue that directly impacts how motorists behave on US-61 in Wyoming. The state is shirking its responsibility for providing the manpower to patrol this entire area.
Some 20 years ago, eight Minnesota State Patrol Troopers worked this East Metro Patrol District. That number at one time grew to nine troopers.
What is the number today?
Itís five. That is an amazing reduction in personnel at a time when traffic volumes continue to grow and the need for public assistance expands. Budget reasons are blamed, but the excuse is flimsy at best.
At a time when the governor orders state troopers to assist Minneapolis police in hot spot crime areas, other areas of the state pay the price.
If the need in Minneapolis is truly justified, it should come at a price that does not include the shortchanging of other areas of the state.
It is easy to blame the speed limit on US-61 as a factor in a crash. But subtract police from the scene and it is easy to see the rate of speed increase to levels that are even more unsafe.
At a time when Wyoming and Forest Lake leaders are seeing the justification to expand their respective city police departments, we see the opposite from the state agency charged with patrolling state highways.
Like the 40 mile an hour speed limit on US-61 in downtown Wyoming, it just doesnít make sense and change is needed.
It is time for MnDOT to take a serious look at the 40 mile an hour speed limit and for the Department of Public Safety to restore the number of troopers justified in this area.
Letís take these steps now, before another family must be notified that a loved one has been killed in a car crash.
Forest Lake Times
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880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
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