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Rise of roundabouts in Minnesota
If you feel like you’re seeing more circles on your commute, you are. The number of roundabouts being built in Minnesota is rising — rapidly.
MINNESOTA, USA — Your eyes and wheels don’t deceive you; you’re seeing more circles.
“Just recently, there’s been a kind of almost a cascade of more roundabouts every single year,” said Minnesota Department of Transportation administrative engineer Derek Leuer.
MnDOT’s first roundabouts went up in 2002, down in Medford off of Interstate 35. According to a national roundabout database (yes, there is such a thing), Minnesota now has 498.
And the reason behind the rise has nothing to do with trying to annoy you.
“The biggest thing when we looked at the research is the really big reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes, which is really the target type of crash we want to reduce,” said Leuer. “After we install a roundabout, we typically see an 80- to 90-percent reduction in fatal and serious injury crashes, versus the before conditions,” he adds.
MnDOT said they are up to 70-percent safer for pedestrians, too. But how?
Well, by design, they force drivers to slow down and they take out those right angles that a four-way stop, or signaled intersection have — both things that make crashes far more severe.
And the way the crosswalks are designed means pedestrians only need to cross one lane of traffic at a time. The suburbs must have been reading the same studies.
“We have six, full-size, or standard-size, roundabouts in Edina, and we have four what we call mini-roundabouts,” explained Chad Millner, director of engineering for the city of Edina.
For Edina, the reasons weren’t strictly about safety. Officials say roundabouts help move traffic through congested intersections better, so they’ve put a few near schools.
“Eventually they learn that it is better for me to just yield and go through these from a traffic operations standpoint, then having a four-way stop that was here. Before, you’d have cars backed all the way up to Vernon Avenue in each direction in these school pickup and drop-offs,” says Millner.
But let’s just admit that change is hard, and for most of us when we learned to drive, roundabouts weren’t, well, around.
“Usually when you put one in, the first few weeks you get the calls like, ‘Why did you do it?’ ‘I don’t like the size of this one,’ ‘Can you do something different?’ ‘I don’t know how to operate it,’” Millner said.
That’s changing, too. According to Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety, roundabouts ARE covered in the driver’s manual for new drivers. And there are a few locations around the state that have roundabouts on the road test. DPS said as more roundabouts are built, they’ll likely expand testing. For the rest of us, maybe a quick lesson would be helpful.
“You always yield to the person that is already in the circle,” said Andrew Plowman, senior project manager at WSB..
Andrew Plowman knows what he’s talking about. He’s designed more than his fair share of roundabouts over the years. From minis to urban compact, single lane to multi-lane, too. But no matter the size, they all work the same.
“When there’s a gap in traffic, and that means they feel they have enough time to get in, then they would enter and proceed to their final destination and exit, and as they exit, look for a pedestrian in the crossing,” said Plowman.
It’s that simple. Slow down, yield to the cars already in the circle, turn right, proceed to your exit, and exit. When you approach a two-lane roundabout, it’s the same concept.
From the right lane, you can turn right at the first exit or go straight. Use the inside or left lane to go straight, or if you’re going all the way around to the last exit, like if you were making a left turn at a traditional intersection.
The signage helps make it clear, but do you need to use your turn signal? Andrew said it’s a big debate in the roundabout industry, but according to our statutes here in Minnesota, the answer is no. The distance between where you enter and exit is so short, it doesn’t really matter.
“Number one, even when I’m sitting at a regular intersection, I don’t necessarily trust someone’s signal. Number two, it’s fractions of a second before you’re going to know if they are turning or exiting,” Plowman said.
While it may be the case that many drivers are not familiar with roundabout rules, they still seem to be working. And they’re kind of growing on people.
Mostly. Maybe. Well, anyway, get used to them because they’re sticking around.
“Just keep an open mind. They’re not a fad anymore, even if they were at the beginning. It’s a proven tool that does work for municipalities, counties, DOT and they’re pretty much here to stay,” said Plowman.
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A criminal complaint alleges the suspect was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash.
MINNEAPOLIS — Criminal charges have been filed against a St. Paul man in connection with a multi-vehicle crash Wednesday night in Minneapolis that left one person dead and several others injured.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office said Talon Covie-Carderell Walker, 29, is now charged with one count of criminal vehicular homicide.
According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, prosecutors believe Walker was driving a Chevy Avalanche pickup truck at high speeds when he started a chain-reaction crash on the I-94 exit to Dunwoody Boulevard on Wednesday evening. A total of seven vehicles were involved.
The State Patrol said Natalie Gubbay, 26, who was driving one of the other vehicles, died at the scene. Several others were hospitalized following the crash, including Walker. Two children were also among those injured.
The complaint alleges Walker was driving nearly 100 mph at the time of the crash. Investigators also said an open bottle of liquor was found in Walker’s vehicle. Results of a blood alcohol test are pending, according to the complaint, but investigators said Walker has previous driving convictions and lost his license in 2021.
Industry experts say several airlines were already waiting for deliveries of Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
MINNEAPOLIS — This week union workers who build planes for Boeing rejected a new contract deal.
64% of the 32,000 machinists voted against the deal in another major setback for the company. The strike that has halted most of Boeing’s aircraft production for over a month will continue.
The strike is further delaying deliveries for many Boeing customers who are already dealing with production delays.
It could soon have a big impact across the country, from concerns over plane safety to the cost of flying.
Hassan Shahidi with the Flight Safety Foundation says many airlines were already waiting for Boeing airplanes before the strike started.
“Prior to the strike there were already challenges,” Shahidi says. “This strike is exacerbating the situation even further.”
Shahidi says some of the airlines may have aging airplanes that will have to stay in use longer than the companies had planned for, but he argues that is a minor issue and he is not worried about passenger safety.
“All aircraft that are flying are certified by the FAA, are airworthy and safe,” Shahidi says.
He argues a much larger issue is how the strike will impact the airline industry’s plans to grow in the coming years.
He says most of the orders for new Boeing airplanes are from airlines that are expanding to meet passenger demand.
“To have other companies trying to come in and meet that gap is going to be challenging in terms of both supplies, labor and processes that are going to be needed to produce the highest quality of airplanes,” Shahidi says.
According to Delta’s website, the airline recently ordered 100 Boeing 737’s with an option to buy 30 more.
Those planes are scheduled to be delivered sometime next year and the company says some of those airplanes will be deployed to MSP.
KARE 11 reached out to Delta to see if the Boeing strike could affect the delivery of those planes, and whether the strike could impact Delta’s ability to add new flights in the coming years, but we haven’t heard back from the company at this time.
Sun Country says their entire fleet is made up of 43 Boeing airplanes.
A company spokesperson says all of Sun Country’s airplanes are “mid-life aircraft” meaning they are purchased used from other companies.
This spokesperson says this unique business model will insulate Sun Country from the impacts of the Boeing strike, and the company won’t see a shortage of airplanes anytime soon.
KARE 11 also reached out to the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to see if the airport and local travelers will see any impacts of the Boeing strike.
An MSP spokesperson sent KARE-11 the following statement:
“We do not anticipate any immediate impacts at MSP from the Boeing strike. While a strike could push back delivery of aircraft to airlines and lead to future schedule adjustments by those airlines, any impacts would not be expected to affect MSP any more than other airports across the country.”
The victim’s wife identified their neighbor as the likely suspect following ongoing disputes.
MINNEAPOLIS — A shooting that followed months of alleged harassment from one neighbor to another has escalated to a public sparring session between the Minneapolis Police Department and City Council.
According to court documents, MPD was called to a hospital in the city for reports of a gunshot victim on Oct. 23. Upon arrival, the officers learned a man, identified as Davis Maturi, had been shot and was transported to the hospital from his home on Grand Avenue in Minneapolis.
The criminal complaint in the case said Maturi’s wife told officers that their neighbor, identified as 54-year-old John Sawchak, “almost certainly” was the person who shot her husband, alleging that Sawchak had harassed and threatened the couple for months.
Mrs. Maturi allegedly told officers that her husband was pruning a tree near their property line on that day.
“Touch my tree again and I’ll kill you,” the suspect allegedly told the victim, according to the complaint.
The charging documents lists seven prior police records of incidents between the neighbors before the October shooting, including several allegations of threats and racism by Sawchak against Maturi.
Maturi remains hospitalized with a fractured spine. Sawchak is not currently in police custody.
A letter from ranking members of the Minneapolis City Council to Mayor Jacob Frey shows anger and blame being directed at the MPD for allegedly failing to act on Maturi’s numerous complaints against Sawchak before the shooting, and failing to arrest him immediately after the shooting.
“MPD still has not arrested the suspect despite charges from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for Attempted Murder, 1st Degree Assault, Stalking, and Harassment and a request from the HCAO for a warrant with $1 million bail. MPD told the HCAO they do not intend to execute the warrant ‘for reasons of officer safety,’” said the letter from the Minneapolis City Council.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara scheduled a news conference on Friday afternoon to respond to the council’s accusations.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office confirmed Friday that it filed charges against Sawchak.
“After Mr. Sawchak shot Mr. Moturi on Oct. 23, the case was submitted to our office on Oct. 24. We immediately charged Mr. Sawchak with attempted murder, first-degree assault, and felony harassment and stalking, enhanced for racial bias,” said a statement from the office.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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