Two intersection proposals presented by MnDOT representatives
The Bingham Lake Community Center was a beehive of activity Thursday afternoon and early evening, March 27, as interested people – most notably Bingham Lake residents and area farmers – attended an informational open house regarding the Highway #60 four-lane construction project and hosted Bingham Lake City Council.
Included was a review of the proposed Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) intersection construction design for Highway 60 at intersections with Cottonwood County Road #2 on the west edge of Bingham Lake and Cottonwood County Road #44 on the city’s east side – and how those changes will impact traffic. Maps of proposed construction and possible alternatives were available for review and discussion.
A trio of MnDOT representatives were on hand to answer questions. They included, Peter Harff, project manager; Steve Bowers, design manager and Scott Morgan, hydraulics engineer.
Two alternatives for routing at those intersections were highlighted.
The first option being considered is a reduced conflict intersection. More information can be found in an earlier post: Reduced Conflict Intersection
The second choice would be extending the space between the two westbound lanes and two eastbound lanes to 180′. Positive points for such an at-grade intersection would include: the larger separation would mean drivers would be less likely to try to cross all lanes at once, oversize turning lanes would provide enough room for farm machinery and semi-trucks and trailers, acceleration lanes would keep vehicles out of cross traffic until they had increased speed, turning lanes would keep vehicles out of cross traffic when turning, Bingham Lake commercial properties (PJs II, Miller-Sellner Implement, Poet ethanol) would be helped with public access – and most important – such an intersection would be simpler for drivers to understand.
According to Harff, this could be done at both #44 and #2, with enough land available to be procured at each site, however, a large amount of fill would be needed at Cottonwood County #2. Harff, however, noted that reduced conflict intersections are less expensive to construct than those featuring a larger at-grade separation.
An informal vote was taken for the preference of Bingham Lake residents.
