Upcoming highway work is long overdue

There’s an old joke that Minnesota has two seasons - winter and road construction.

Commuters from the New Prague area have been dealing with a lot of construction between here and the Twin Cities this year, just as they have seemingly every year. Highway engineers and safety experts from the Minnesota Department of Transportation are constantly looking at aging roadways and traffic statistics for problem intersections, looking to see where there are frequent traffic delays or accident-prone areas that endanger those on the highway. Their goal is to improve the driving experience and reduce the likelihood of crashes and other delays.

One such problem area is located on Highway 19 just east of New Prague, near the auto dealerships and the county roads to the north and south. For those of us at the newspaper, it seems as if we are going to that intersection several times a year to cover an accident. That is one thing no small-town reporter enjoys because quite often, the people involved in the crash are people we know.

There have been proposals to improve that intersection, including one about five years ago to realign Redwing Avenue to the north to meet up with Le Sueur County Road 164 to the south, eliminating one of the two problem corners. That proposal was studied by Scott and Le Sueur counties and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, but was shelved for various reasons.

Earlier this month, it was announced that this fall the road will see some improvements, which will include widening the highway and installing turn lanes in the area of the problem intersections, as well as installing better lighting. These improvements are long overdue and hopefully will lessen the number of collisions at that corner. The road will be closed for a short time this fall so that the work can proceed. Once it is complete, it will make, we hope, for a safer commute for New Prague area residents.