Project Manager Newsletter
July 2024
Hello, everyone! It has been a busy July for the Hwy 252/I-94 environmental study! Still, I want to take a moment to share a personal story that underscores my commitment to improving safety on Minnesota’s roadways.
On April 30, my son was on a training run with his track team. Their route that Tuesday afternoon took them across Hwy 61 at North 202nd St. My son and another teammate were struck by a car, sustaining serious injuries.
Everything came to a standstill. I stayed with my son in the hospital for four days while doctors worked to fix him up and get him well enough to go home and start recovering. The experience has been the scariest time of my life.
Thankfully, both boys survived the impact from a 4,000-pound vehicle. My son is almost fully healed, but many people are not as lucky.
The intersection where he was hit has a crash history as well as countless near misses.
Since that day, I have considered many ways to fix the intersection to make sure what happened to my son, didn’t happen again to anyone else.
What I ultimately realized though, is humans make mistakes. That is part of what makes us human. This is also why we need to constantly think about safety, finding solutions that can help minimize injuries and loss of life when humans make mistakes.
As a MnDOT engineer, this experience has strengthened my mission as we look for solutions that work to improve all needs, particularly safety, even if we don’t always agree on how to do so.
MnDOT has looked at safety along Hwy 252 and I-94 since the beginning of the study and will continue prioritizing safety through the rest of the process.
In sharing my family’s experience with you all, I want to reiterate my commitment to improving the roadways in your communities so we can help prevent another family going through what mine did. Thank you for the allowing me to do so.
This month, engagement events are well underway to communicate the data and analysis to help us decide whether Hwy 252 should go over or under local roadways at each existing intersection.
We are meeting with potentially affected property owners through the end of this month and into August. We have scheduled meetings in Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center to share this information and get feedback on the over or under question.
Please hold the dates of August 15 (Brooklyn Park) and August 21 (Brooklyn Center). More information will be coming in the next week.
Thank you again for letting me share my story and allowing me to connect with you each month. Please reach out if you have any questions!