Photo Credit: MnDOT

The Minnesota Department of Transportation recently set up a pedestrian safety demonstration along the intersection of Bemidji Avenue/Paul Bunyan Drive and 6th Street. The project consists of a temporary pedestrian refuge island and crosswalk.

People are encouraged by MnDOT to “try it out.” This project will only be set up during the summer, and it’s meant to test safety boundaries of a pedestrian median at this location. Motorists traveling north on Bemidji Avenue will not be able to turn left onto 6th Street. MnDOT plans to evaluate if this temporary project may become a permanent solution at a later date.

“Demonstration projects help us learn. We can experiment with potential solutions and evaluate them with real time results,” said Jon Mason, MnDOT Planning Director.

MnDOT states that a median island at this location would allow for pedestrians to cross safety to Library Park. With an island in the turning lane, non-motorists will lessen the amount of time exposed to traffic as they will not have to cross all five lanes at once. Pedestrians are also able to focus on one direction of traffic, instead of both.

More information can be found on MnDOT’s website.

By — Mary Balstad