Prior Lake City Council, MnDOT discuss Highway 13 safety, speed during work session

Prior Lake American

Prior Lake officials on Monday floated the idea of lowering the speed limit on Highway 13.

The Prior Lake City Council and a Minnesota Department of Transportation engineer discussed methods to make Highway 13 safer during a Monday work session.

In 2016, the department of transportation conducted a speed study along Highway 13 in Prior Lake. The study examined how fast most drivers went along the road to determine what the speed limit should be, Minnesota Department of Transportation Engineer Diane Langenbach said during the work session.

As a result of the study, the speed limit increased from 45 miles per hour to 50 miles per hour in December 2017.

“The goal is to get everyone driving about the same speed limit, because that’s when we know we have the safest operations,” Langenbach said. “We’re checking all of the roadways statewide. ... Quite a few of (the speed limits) are going up. It isn’t anything that was just in Prior Lake or Scott County.”

Council member Annette Thompson asked if there was a way to petition the department to lower the speed again. Langenbach said she didn’t know if there was but that, generally, speed studies are done again after a construction project.

“So, that could change,” Langenbach said. “Right now it’s set, and there’s not a whole lot that can be done.”

Highway 13 will undergo quite a bit of construction in 2019. Pavement and medians will be replaced from County Road 21 to Highway 282 along Highway 13. A traffic signal will be installed at Highway 13 and County Road 21 and dedicated left turn and right turn lanes will be put in at multiple intersections. The County Road 21 and Highway 13 and the Duluth Avenue and Highway 13 projects will also be done in 2019.

Council member Kevin Burkart said he would like to see a lower speed on Highway 13 in order to keep the city’s “small-town feel.”

“I think of the small-town values, and I think we talk that talk a lot,” Burkart said. “I’m wondering if it would be more of a walk than a talk if we said, ‘Highway 13, we’d like to see a lower speed on it.’”

Prior Lake Mayor Kirt Briggs said recent construction on the highway, which removed bypass lanes, should warrant another speed study to determine the effect.

Langenbach said removing the bypass lanes is a safety improvement for the highway.