$20 Million Broke This Street. $2 Million Can Begin To Fix It.
This dangerous, overengineered intersection is getting a much-needed makeover. (Source: Google Maps.)
To build a Strong Town is to develop governing habits and shared cultural understandings that result in a long run of small wins, successes that may be individually imperceptible but cumulatively result in broad and meaningful change.
Today, I want to share one of those small wins with you.
When I wrote "Confessions of a Recovering Engineer," I included a small section about the Willow Street intersection here in my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota. This is a location where overengineering has created a dangerous intersection that city officials wanted to address with more overengineering.
The north-south corridor is 6th Street. It was once Brainerd’s premier boulevard until it was turned into a highway, creating a sugar-high of growth on the edge of town but ultimately stagnating that whole portion of the city. Since the highway bypassed the city over two decades ago, that stagnation has turned to atrophy. A recent reconstruction of “Business 371” (as South 6th Street is called by those lacking vision) was a multidecade commitment to a highway through the middle of town. The only subsequent investment was the conversion of a failed restaurant into a giant ice dispenser.
Let me make this point clear: The millions we made in transportation investments so devalued this neighborhood that the highest and best use of once-valuable land along South 6th Street is a machine that sells ice. In Minnesota.
The overengineered cross street is called Willow Street. For most of my life, it was a modest shortcut known primarily to locals. As part of a series of multimillion-dollar investments designed to make it easier for east-west traffic to bypass Brainerd’s downtown and get quickly to the big box stores in neighboring Baxter, Willow was expanded to be the width of an airport runway. I’m not joking.
All of this was done in pursuit of a growth strategy centered around reviving traffic counts. Traffic was falling throughout this entire area. The thought was that, if it was easier for people to drive through here, the private sector would follow with auto-oriented investments (like it had done with Taco John’s on the northeast side of town).
The money spent on overengineering was to culminate in a traffic signal at the intersection of South 6th Street and Willow Street. It wasn't built at the time because it couldn’t be justified by the warrants traffic engineers use to obtain state and federal funding for such things. Here is what I wrote in "Confessions":
The latest traffic counts have 6,900 vehicles traveling on the oversized Willow Street intersecting with 12,900 vehicles traveling along the five-lane former highway of South 6th Street. These volumes are extremely low for the capacity that has been built on these streets, but the ratios may trip a warrant and justify the installation of a signal. Despite the high cost of installation and ongoing maintenance, another traffic signal is what most people in Brainerd seem to desire.
That is what I wrote back in 2021 — most people seemed to desire a signal — but our cultural understanding seems to have shifted.
As reported in the local paper, after “more than 60 crashes were reported at that location over a 10-year span,” the city is moving ahead with a $2 million project to build a roundabout at this location, with the help of a $750,000 Highway Safety Improvement Program grant. There is some sad irony in how federal transportation spending is now (partially) addressing the problem caused (primarily) by federal transportation spending, with local residents paying the disproportionate price in both dollars and destruction.
The fact that our local leadership has this one figured out doesn’t mean there is universal agreement. I was active on Facebook when the comments started to pile up on this one. For example:
I hate to dismiss such a reasonable critique because this guy is fundamentally right — what were we thinking?! — but this move stops the overengineering insanity while also stopping the bleeding (figurative and literal) at this intersection. It is hard to explain how 15+ years and over $20 million of irresponsible transportation spending got us to this point. It is even more difficult to explain why $2 million more will create a significant change in a positive direction, one that will ultimately cost less and save lives.
This guy has the conclusion wrong, but he is absolutely correct in his reasoning. The intersection was overengineered with the assumption of a future signal (once traffic expanded or enough people died), so it feels like a signal belongs there. More importantly, the only times when there is the least bit of friction are when school lets out and during the 15 minutes of “rush hour.” A traffic signal prioritizes high speeds during those peak times, increasing danger and delays during non-peak times. A roundabout here shifts the priority to safety and traffic flow for the entire day, albeit at slightly lower speeds.
I found this comment particularly insightful. This driver is experiencing tension and “close calls” in roundabouts. That’s a feature, not a flaw. A well-designed roundabout forces people to slow down, which means they have to actively engage in driving. That feels scary, even though it is a lot safer. In contrast, a signal allows drivers to keep their minds passive and unfocused, which feels less scary but is actually way more dangerous for everyone.
It is hard to argue that a $2 million roundabout is a win for a city that struggles financially as much as we do. Yet, this is an important step. We are turning our back on decades of bad decisions. Our local leadership is developing the kind of positive habits needed to build a stronger and more prosperous Brainerd. And, at the same time, we are watching the community’s shared cultural understandings evolve in a more thoughtful direction.
This is what winning looks like in a Strong Town. Now, let’s build real momentum by doing it again and again and again.
Do you want expert guidance in making your streets safer? Registration for the Accelerator winter session is open now. Attendees will get personalized coaching from Strong Towns experts with insights from the book “Confessions of a Recovering Engineer: Transportation for a Strong Town.”
A maximum of 30 people will be accepted, so sign up now!
Charles Marohn (known as “Chuck” to friends and colleagues) is the founder and president of Strong Towns and the bestselling author of “Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis.” With decades of experience as a land use planner and civil engineer, Marohn is on a mission to help cities and towns become stronger and more prosperous. He spreads the Strong Towns message through in-person presentations, the Strong Towns Podcast, and his books and articles. In recognition of his efforts and impact, Planetizen named him one of the 15 Most Influential Urbanists of all time in 2017 and 2023.