$165M fix coming to dangerous stretch of Highway 65 in Blaine
BLAINE, Minn. – A surge of state funding will transform a stretch of highway considered to be one of the most dangerous drives in Minnesota.
Sixty-thousand drivers a day experience the brutal realities of Highway 65 in Blaine.
"I've seen it countless times," said Ben Hayle, who lives in Blaine. "As a witness, I've seen accidents here."
The danger became personal for Hayle this year when a driver ran a red light and T-boned him and his family.
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"I have two kids in the backseat, and I wasn't sure what I was going to see in that first moment when I turned around," Hayle said. "Thankfully I saw two kids that were incredibly scared but were OK."
It's a 55-mph road with lights every quarter to half mile. The city says 10 of Minnesota's 31 most dangerous intersections are on Highway 65.
"[It] puts a huge stress on the police department but also, a lot of people's lives impacted," said Tim Sanders, Blaine's mayor. "Safety issues, a lot of traffic congestion, traffic accidents."
But now, after the state legislature allocated $100 million during the last session, a 2.25-mile stretch will be rebuilt in a $165 million project that's being funded at every level of government.
Sanders says Highway 65 will be elevated above the cross streets, and the intersections will become roundabouts.
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"You eliminate any possibility of a T-bone accident," Sanders said. "It'll be like an actual highway but much easier to get off and into the city of Blaine."
Construction won't start until at least 2025, but a green light on the project is important progress to residents.
"It's life or death," Hayle said. "Our family was incredibly lucky...but others haven't been on this road, and it is way past time that this road is fixed."
There have been more than 15,000 police calls for service to the highway in the last five years.