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Rothsay exit not much of a ‘crash zone’ [UPDATED]
Published 9:20am Monday, January 30, 2012 Updated 11:20am Monday, January 30, 2012Every area has a “crash zone,” a place where, real or perceived, more crashes just seem to happen. For many area residents, the local crash zone is the “Rothsay curve,” the area surrounding Exit 38 on Interstate Highway 94.
The latest accidents on the Rothsay curve took place on Jan. 22, when two accidents happened in quick succession near mile marker 37. Two people received minor injuries in the crashes.
“The Rothsay curve does seem to be kind of a Bermuda Triangle for people going off the road,” said Sergeant Jesse Grabow, public information officer with the Minnesota State Patrol.
Whether people are driving too fast or just don’t know how to handle the curve, he said, “I’ve responded to numerous crashes (there) over the years.”
However, information from the Minnesota Department of Transportation shows that the Rothsay curve isn’t significantly more or less dangerous than any of the other interchange areas on I-94.
Tom Swenson, MnDOT District 4 traffic engineer, compared crash rates near the Rothsay interchange to rates near the interchanges for Barnesville (Exit 24), Downer (Exit 15) and State Highway 336 (Exit 6). The rates were nearly identical.
At the Rothsay interchange, there were 0.7 reported crashes per million vehicles driving through the area in the last three years. The crash rate was also 0.7 for Barnesville and Highway 336, and it was 0.9 for Downer.
“That’s actually pretty average … for Minnesota,” Swenson said.
Of course, the Rothsay interchange is more dangerous for drivers than other areas of I-94 – specifically, the straight-aways and areas not near exits.
“It’s not unusual to have an uptick (in crash rate) near a curve or near an interchange,” said Swenson.
Interchanges are often more dangerous for drivers because of a curve near the area, combined with drivers exiting and entering the freeway and speeding up and slowing down.
The winter numbers (measured from Nov. 1 to April 1) for the last three years show a crash rate of 1.4 for the Rothsay interchange, below Barnesville and Downer’s 1.7 and above Highway 336’s 1.3.
“You hear it all the time, but it’s true: people have to slow down for the conditions,” said Swenson.
Though the crash rates for the exits are all relatively similar, Swenson said they’re not all-encompassing. The actual amount of crashes could fluctuate because crashes are only reported if they cause over $1,000 in damage or are deemed reportable by law enforcement for another reason (like an injury).
“Am I saying these are the only crashes that happen? Of course not,” said Swenson.
Ultimately, said Swenson, data suggests that the Rothsay interchange isn’t more or less dangerous than a typical interchange.
