ST. PAUL -- It is easy to figure out what to do about a collapsed bridge -- build a new one.
But it is more difficult to improve the safety of the state's thousands of miles of rural roads, where more than 300 people died in vehicle crashes last year.
The Aug. 1 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis has prompted a closer look at the safety of Minnesota's bridges and infrastructure, including roadways outside the Twin Cities area.
Traffic experts and highway designers say rural roads can be made safer with better driver behavior, enhanced law enforcement and construction im-provements, but a shortage of transportation dollars has hampered that effort.
The number of people killed in vehicle crashes on Minnesota roads has steadily declined in the past five years -- down from a recent high of 657 in 2002 to under 500 in 2006.
ADVERTISEMENT
But statistics from the state Department of Public Safety reinforce rural policymakers' concerns about the deadly problem on roads around the state.
n More than two-thirds of the 494 crash fatalities in Minnesota in 2006 happened on rural roads.
n Nearly two-thirds of crash fatalities occurred on two-lane roads, the design of most rural roadways.
n Areas with populations under 1,000 people saw 289 of the 456 fatal crashes last year.
For their part, motorists can reduce the chance of fatally crashing by buckling up, driving sober, paying attention and abiding by the speed limit, said Dennis Smith, information office for the Department of Public Safety.
"Ultimately, most crashes are the result of driver behavior," he said.
With a goal of further reducing the number of fatal crashes, state agencies have increased traffic education and enforcement through a variety of programs, from targeting highway stretches where speeding is prevalent to monitoring traffic closer around holidays when drunken driving is more common.
Engineering is a critical part of the road safety equation, but also the most expensive, said Dave Robley, vice president of the Minnesota County Engineers Association.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Douglas County engineer and North Dakota State University graduate said more funding is needed to make highway improvements, such as widening shoulders, adding lanes, providing more traffic signs or even replacing worn-out stretches of pavement
"It will take more than a couple years," Robley said of significant improvements to Minnesota roads.
Even without additional state funds, transportation improvements are made using mostly federal highway safety dollars. That type of work includes installing "rumble strips" to the roadway nearing an intersection, providing better signs and adding turning lanes.
"To the extent that we can get more funding or more projects completed, it does introduce a factor of safety to our system," said Bernie Arseneau, the Department of Transportation's state traffic engineer.
The problems on Minnesota roads have "tragically been overlooked," said Sen. Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, who frequently links traffic deaths to a lack of adequate transportation funding.
Murphy, who leads the Senate Transportation Committee, said driver behavior is a factor in crashes, but certain road improvements could help to prevent dangerous crashes. That requires more state investment, he said, alluding to the potential for a transportation funding bill in a special legislative session this fall.
"If you see the gas tax go up, rural roads are going to get more money," Murphy said, noting that previous spending helped to improve the safety on a highway between the Twin Cities and southeastern Minnesota.
In rural areas, motorists tend to drive at higher speeds and are less likely to wear seat belts. Experts identified those as key factors in many crashes.
