As elected leaders, others seek change at deadly corner, DOT engineer says 'it's time' the agency revisits it
Jul. 6—GRAND FORKS — Support for making changes to a dangerous highway crossing west of Grand Forks is growing as elected officials, business leaders and an Air Force colonel join in an effort they hope will improve safety at the site.
And this week, a regional engineer with the state Department of Transportation told members of the Grand Forks County Commission "it's time that we look at alternative intersections there."
More than 40 crashes have occurred in the past decade at the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and County Road 5, approximately three miles west of city limits. Two resulted in fatalities, including one last month.
In the days immediately after the most recent fatal crash, the North Dakota Department of Transportation told the Grand Forks Herald it did not have plans to make safety changes at the intersection.
Mark Rustad, a member of the Grand Forks County Commission, is pushing the issue. He has spent recent weeks advocating for changes at the intersection and asking others to join him in a unifying effort that he hopes will catch the attention of the DOT.
"I am 100% motivated to use whatever influence I may have and totally take advantage of every relationship and friendship I have" to make the intersection safer, Rustad said.
The list of those who have confirmed support — or at least concern — includes the mayor of Grand Forks, the commander of Grand Forks Air Force Base and U.S. Rep. Kelly Armstrong, the Republican candidate for governor.
"They have a real problem up there, and I agreed to meet with them and hear their concerns the next time I am up there," Armstrong told the Herald on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, Col. Timothy Monroe, commander of the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at GFAFB, called the intersection "a known safety issue" that must be addressed. The base is located west of the corner on Highway 2.
"In the Air Force, we know you can never eliminate all risk. The military is a dangerous business. But we do practice and teach risk management, which identifies hazards and looks at what is within our control to mitigate them," Monroe said. "My sacred responsibility is to protect the people who live, serve or work on Grand Forks AFB and its Air Park. U.S. 2, and specifically the intersection at Airport Road, is one of those hazards. ..."
And a statement from the office of Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., on Wednesday confirmed the senator is "aware of the tragic history of this intersection." Further, it said, Hoeven "works hard through his role on the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee to ensure the state has the resources it needs. Hearing of the needs for safety improvements at this intersection, we will be working with the county and NDDOT to determine the best way to assist with this particular project."
On June 3, a Dodge pickup driven by Travis Bell rear-ended a Ford Focus at the intersection, severely injuring the driver and a 6-year-old passenger.
The child later died.
According to court documents, officers at the scene believe Bell had been drinking. He originally was charged with two counts of Class C felony criminal vehicular injury, but following the death, one count was amended to Class A felony criminal vehicular homicide.
In 2021, a semi-truck driven by Steven Charles Piechowski, of Felton, Minnesota, caused
an eight-vehicle, chain-reaction crash at the corner
that resulted in five injuries and one man's death. Piechowski
was later sentenced to two months
in jail.
At the time of the Piechowski crash, a construction project was underway at the intersection.
In July 2021,
the Herald reported on the growing list
of crashes there, noting that between July 1, 2020, and July 11, 2021, the North Dakota Highway Patrol logged 17 crashes at or near the intersection. Of those, 14 were rear-end collisions. The ongoing construction at the time may have been a factor in a number of the crashes.
A report last month in the Herald, citing DOT data, noted there were no crashes at the intersection in 2014, but then 14 over the following three years. In 2018, flashing lights — which warn drivers that a stop light is imminent — were installed, and the number fell to one crash each in 2018 and 2019. The number rose dramatically over the next two years — seven and 11, respectively — before falling to two each in 2022 and 2023 and three so far this year.
A 2010 crash at the Highway 2-County Road 5 intersection resulted in two fatalities. On Dec. 22 that year, a van was hit by a semi truck that ran a red light, according to news reports at the time. A
Herald story several days after the event
noted that a witness spoke on the record because he wanted to help in the aftermath of what the Herald described as "a horrific accident that raises questions about the safety of the intersection."
Rustad is troubled by the trend, even as some suggest the numbers could be skewed due to extenuating circumstances, such as construction or driving under the influence.
"Anyone with a heart at the DOT can look at this and say 'OK, maybe our data doesn't necessarily indicate it should be a different kind of intersection, but clearly the circumstances do," Rustad said last month,
as quoted in a Herald editorial
on June 29.
This week, Rustad said he is "extremely optimistic with the momentum we have built. I've talked to a number of people."
During Tuesday's meeting of the Grand Forks County Commission, NDDOT Grand Forks District engineer Ed Pavlish attended and spoke upon Rustad's request.
"With the concerns that we've been hearing, we are looking to get a project set up and then moving to that unit on our schedule, get a consultant hired and then go through the environmental process and public input process and determine alternatives at that time," Pavlish told commissioners. "What the team needs (is) the support from the community to try and make it happen this time. We've looked at it for over a decade now and done little for changes.
"I think it's time that we look at alternative intersections there."
Alternative intersections, he said, have been proven to reduce fatalities by reducing violent contacts like T-bone crashes. A roundabout could be among the alternatives, as could an overpass, although Pavlish said the latter could be cost prohibitive.
There have been multiple studies on the corner, Pavlish told commission members. Various alternatives have been presented, but they have failed to move forward due to lack of consensus.
Pavlish plans to pass along the community's concerns to state leaders.
Among those with concerns are state lawmakers, business leaders and Mayor Brandon Bochenski, who has pledged his support. Since the intersection is outside city limits, it really isn't a city issue, per se, but the mayor said he will advocate for change nonetheless.
He said education about the corner doesn't appear to be working, so "in this case, they need to do more engineering."
"I'm definitely supportive of changes happening there," Bochenski said, adding that the most recent crash is an example of why updates are needed. "It was a horrible, horrible accident there and the loss of a young life needlessly."
Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of the East Grand Forks-Grand Forks Chamber, said the organization's board has not officially addressed the issue, but he considers it a community concern that needs to be addressed.
"While my board and the Military Affairs Committee have not voted or taken an official stance, I am inclined to think the Chamber of Commerce and the Military Affairs Committee would be very supportive of addressing that intersection," Wilfahrt said.
Generally speaking, he said, "there will be widespread support for that."
Pavlish provided the commissioners with data recorded during a recent vehicle count at the corner. In one day, he said, 10,000 vehicles passed the intersection on Highway 2 and 4,100 on County Road 5.
Scott Meyer, a Republican state senator from Grand Forks, said the number of vehicles passing through the intersection probably will grow as the GrandSky business park — located west of the corner — grows and as the military mission expands at the Air Force base.
"I am going to be supportive of this, and what that might mean is seeing if there are opportunities at a state or federal level to get some funds for this. I don't know if we can move it up (on the DOT's schedule), but it's been an intersection we are all aware of," Meyer said. "I would say that, almost annually, there is a bad accident out there. ...
"It needs to be done."
