By Dan Linehan
The Free Press
September 08, 2008 12:25 am
—
On May 6, 2005, Hilary Mathis of Windom lost her cousin to a crash on Highway 60 near Butterfield.
Jamie Torkelson, 28, was driving his motorcycle at night (wearing a helmet) when a car traveling the opposite direction swerved into his lane. He was killed in the head-on collision.
Mathis, who says Jamie was “the closest thing to a brother (she) ever had,” spent many months grieving and took notice when her newspaper started calling attention to the serious crashes on the highway.
Then, after the transportation bill was passed earlier this year and more money was promised for highways, the state caused something of an uproar with a decision not to expand the highway before 2025.
So Mathis told Jamie’s story and pleaded with state officials to fix the road during a July public hearing in Windom attended by about 380 people.
“For us down here, it’s crystal clear what needs to happen,” she said.
State legislators, especially Republican Rod Hamilton of Mountain Lake and Democrat Jim Vickerson of Tracy, also were concerned about the lack of a plan to expand Highway 60. Hamilton was one of six Republicans who voted to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto.
Their pleas were answered.
The Minnesota Depart-ment of Transportation has agreed to spend $223 million to expand the highway from Bigelow, on the Iowa border, to St. James by 2017 to 2019. The first phase of work will focus on safety upgrades including more turn lanes and rumble strips, better lighting and more prominent signs.
“We’re very pleased,” Hamilton said.
Mathis agreed.
“I think I’m more satisfied than a lot of other people around here,” she said.
MnDOT has decided to review highways that have transitions from two to four lanes. From Windom to St. James, there are three segments of two-lane roadway and two segments of four-lane expressway on Highway 60.
Those transitions can be confusing for drivers, especially because lane departures are one of the biggest factors associated with serious and fatal crashes, said Bernie Arsenau, head of MnDOT’s newly created division of policy, safety and strategic initiatives.
Mathis said she’s seen drivers appear confused at Highway 60’s lane changes numerous times.
“Most of the time, it’s out-of-state drivers and they’re speeding,” she said. During a recent trip to Mankato, she said her vehicle had to swerve to the shoulder twice to avoid reckless drivers.
Highways 14 and 212 are other examples of highways with such transitions.
Among many safety changes coming to Highway 60 will be flashing lights attached to signs announcing lane-number transitions, Arsenau said.
Rumble strips are also planned for the center of the road and the edge.
“We hope that it brings your attention back to the road,” he said.
Highway 60 is actually not more dangerous, statistically, than roads of its type statewide. It has, however, seen a rash of recent fatal crashes, including three during a four-month period at the end of 2007.
The statistics, of course, mean nothing to Mathis and those who have lost loved ones on the road.
“Just pay attention, be safe,” she says.
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