J-turn installation starts on Hwy. 210

The newest J-turn in Carlton County is being constructed near the Carlton Kwik Trip, with completion expected by the end of October, say transportation officials.

"It's not a huge construction project," county engineer JinYeene Neumann said. "We're not doing anything with the existing traffic lanes; we're building alongside."

Neumann compared the work at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 210 and Carlton County Highway 61 to a J-turn, or reduced-conflict intersection, installed outside Walmart on Minnesota Highway 33 in Cloquet in 2023.

The J-turn intersections are designed so cross-traffic doesn't move across up to four lanes of traffic. Instead, travelers turn with the flow of one-way traffic in order to then maneuver through a U-turn lane back toward their destination. The intersections are designed to be safer by reducing the possibilities for T-bone and head-on collisions - the crashes most associated with fatalities and serious, life-altering injuries.

"We knew this was a problematic intersection," Neumann said. "We wanted to make sure the safety of the traveling public was handled."

The $1.1 million project is designed to "improve safety and mobility," according to the project website, citing the new Carlton County Justice Center as one reason for the update.

"The new government building will increase traffic volumes and decrease mobility at the intersection of highways 210 and 61," the project site said. "A reduced-conflict intersection [will] accommodate the increased volumes and increase mobility."

In recent years, county transportation officials had noticed changes at the intersection: first, following heavy pipeline traffic through the area, and later after the construction of the Kwik Trip, which is accessible via the intersection.

"We noticed issues there when they put in the Kwik Trip - it added extra traffic and the median wasn't wide enough to handle the queued traffic," Neumann said.

The county and state tried to address queuing issues by repainting the intersection, creating longer turn lanes, but it was only a temporary fix.

The construction of the nearby $75 million Justice Center, which opens in October and will bring all Sheriff's Office, jail and courts traffic to the area, was the final straw when it came to addressing the intersection.

"When the Justice Center was proposed in its current location, we started looking at that intersection," Neumann said.

An Intersection Control Evaluation came back with a number of alternatives, and the one that best balanced cost effectiveness with traffic control was the reduced-conflict intersection.

The construction work will alter the roadways only slightly. Work already done at the site shows how the new Highway 61 stop sign landing will cross Highway 210 earlier than it does now, at a sharper, straight-on angle.

Grants are fueling the funding to make the work happen, including $540,000 in federal funding related to carbon reduction, since the new intersection is expected to yield shorter lines of vehicles idling and waiting to turn.

A $400,000 Transportation Economic Development grant from the state was also received and makes up the remainder of the overall construction costs.

"We feel the reduced-conflict intersection is the safer option," Neumann said, talking about how the intersection, like a roundabout, is designed to reduce T-bone and head-on collisions. Turning into same direction traffic is most likely to yield sideswipe-type collisions, Neumann said. They're crashes that create property damage, but are less likely to involve fatalities or serious injuries, Neumann said.

She expects travelers will adapt in short order.

As with roundabouts, Neumann acknowledged being privy to some social media negativity about the change to the intersection, but she expects travelers will adapt in short order.

Editor's note: Project cost details were updated after publication.