a dangerous intersection in northfield, MINNESOTA

WHO WE are

We are a group of concerned Northfield residents that came together to help change a very dangerous intersection by the Northfield Middle School and the neighborhood across the highway, the Montessori Children´s House and the Northfield High School.

For months we collected signatures directly from Northfield residents and via change.org. 
With the pressure on MnDOT, we finally started to see changes for the new school year 16/17. 
Following the actions by the Highway 246 Solutions Group and the petition, MnDOT granted the city of Northfield School Zone signs by the Middle School and the High School in November 2015. After April 2016, the city of Northfield worked to create a crosswalk by the Middle School in order to be able to install the school signs and a lower speed limit. With the new signs in place at least now the speed should be 30 mph when children are present. It is not perfect but it is an improvement.

This is progress but much more work is needed in the area. The City of Northfield is working to identify the necessary improvements in the intersection. The study conducted by the city on the Jefferson Parkway and Highway 246 intersection calls for a roundabout. The Solutions Group continues to meet with city officials and other parties involved in order to find permanent and long term solutions to this very dangerous stretch of road. Thank you for your support.

You can watch our short animation illustration about how bad it was:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOeTK5v_CTE&feature=youtu.be 
And a great video made by Northfield High School junior Jake Thomas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwsz1Qb81tk Thank you Jake!
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    New signs right before the new crosswalk by the Middle School


THE ISSUES WITH STATE HIGHWAY 246 IN NORTHFIELD, MN
  1. Get heard. Contact the City of Northfield and keep demanding solutions. The new study of the intersection has to focus on pedestrian safety, mainly children going to school. We need cities that facilitate safe roads and streets for pedestrians and bikers.
  2. Too much traffic is not the problem per se. The problem is not having pedestrian and bikers safety as the first priority. "It seems that MnDOT is more interested in moving vehicles than people" words by the former Northfield Mayor Dana Graham.
  3. Despite the improvements by the Northfield Middle School, and hopefully more to come, the Northfield High School still doesn’t have a safe way for cars and pedestrians alike to leave the building. Cars taking a left turn into town are faced with fast approaching vehicles from the right and a curve to the left that impedes a good view of incoming traffic. Students crossing the street do not have a crosswalk, making crossing that segment of the highway very dangerous for them. Safe Routes to School studies show how in 2015, while teens ages 15-19 made up 26 percent of all children ages 0-19 years, they made up about half of the pedestrian fatalities.


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in the news
NORTHFIELD NEWS
First article
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5 EYEWITNESS NEWS came to northfield and things started to change (the segment is now deleted)
THE AREA OF CONCERN

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