Police Chief: Special Session Needed For Highway 12 Funding
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- After lawmakers failed to pass a public works bill Sunday night, a coalition is renewing the call for funding to improve safety on a particularly dangerous Minnesota highway.
Police Chief Gary Kroells released a statement to the Highway 12 Safety Coalition Monday morning reiterating the need for safety improvements on the notoriously dangerous highway. In his statement, Kroells implored Gov. Mark Dayton to call a special session to resolve the Highway 12 funding and other issues.
"The safety of people traveling on Highway 12 is a priority for our coalition and will continue to be our focus," the statement read. "Together we can make a difference and save lives."
Lawmakers were seeking $15 million for the improvements, which would have included a concrete median in the middle of the highway and adding turn lanes to two dangerous intersections.
Highway 12 has been the site of numerous crashes, many of them fatal. Just last month, a mother died and five others were injured in a crash on the highway.
Over the last five years, at least 22 people have died on an 8-mile stretch of the highway through Independence, Maple Plain, Orono and Long Lake. Statewide, Minnesota has already seen over 100 traffic fatalities in 2016.
The stretch is unusually narrow and was built in 1930. The last major upgrade was nearly 70 years ago, and there have been few improvements since then.
Kroells expressed his frustration before asking Dayton to call a special session.
"Let's hope another person doesn't need to die on Highway 12 to get the funding needed to save lives," Kroells said.
