Turning right is the trick...

(Helpful suggestions!  Or not!)

Local folks may fuss at this intersection and out-of-towners may not have a clue as to what they are doing wrong.

It’s the only intersection where we have a stop light.

That’s not the problem.

It’s where you turn that is the problem.  And resulting in some fender benders.

We are here….

It’s Fourth Street and Main Street (which also happens to be Highway 19).  And the highway designation appears to be the reason for the problem.  

Those making right turns off Highway 19 appear to have problems because the width of the highway is so much larger compared to the cross street of Fourth Street.

And we have become accustomed to being able to turn from the right lane if no traffic is coming.  

Here’s the trick…

But the tricky part is that what looks like the space for a right turn lane really isn’t.

The highway is a designated width. 

It looks like a turn lane is available.

But it’s not.

Note the solid white line?  (When it’s not covered by snow!)

Not supposed to cross it.

The correct lane to turn from…

So when someone is in what looks like a center lane… they really have the right to turn right.

But this is also tricky because when someone sees a line of traffic… and they pull over in the extra space to turn right… and the driver in the “center lane” is correctly turning right…. OUCH!

Uncomfortable scenarios.

 The Cannon Falls Police Department asked the Minnesota  Department of Transportation (MnDot) a while back to add a white line to help identify the lanes.  MnDot explained that they know about the safety concerns and “put an edge line… to mark the driving lane and improve the safety for pedestrians.”

MnDot further explained, “It’s not an ideal situation and we have a project scheduled for 2022 on Highway 19 for paving that will include some possible solutions to this intersection to improve safety for all and maintain mobility for vehicles through it.”  

So what do we do now?

But for the next couple of years I’ve been told that folks just have to figure it out.

I don’t think that’s fair and I don’t want visitors to get bad feelings about driving here… because those of us living here are just as confused.   

My solution!

Anyway… I have some solutions!  They would have to be done in tape or chalk drawings or something removable because no one would want to deface state property, right?  

So I would add bright red arrows pointing to the white line - no crossing it. 

 Or paint in pot holes - we all avoid them.   

Or paint a warning about “Wet Paint!”  

Or add a sign stating:  NO  RIGHT TURN FROM THIS LANE BECAUSE IT’S NOT A LANE! (By the time you get done reading it you may have figured it out!)

Or place some inflatable “dummies” in the lane - the ones that you can hit and they bounce back up again?

Or like Cannon Falls Police Lieutenant Joseph Berg suggests: “As long as you don’t pass anyone on the right to make a right then you’re right!”

Ya right!




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