Hutchinson Leader - Image - Comments

Yikes...that is a scary

Keeping an Open Mind — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 09:50:32 -0500

Yikes...that is a scary looking stairway with the open handrail...you would think it would need to be enclosed at that height. Hope the child is okay.

I hope this little boy is

flowerladytoo — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:21:14 -0500

I hope this little boy is ok. Long way for a little guy to fall, for sure. That stairwell certainly looks dangerous to me. I would think the City of Hutchinson would force the owner to bring it up to code.

Well having been going there

jamiemarxa — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:39:13 -0500

Well having been going there for close onto 15 years, they are now going away from them on main roads, you can't deny that, they are doing more and more stoplights with special left-turn lanes. Side-roads, yes, you are seeing more of them, but yet again, not main roads.

I am relatively certain that

mewm172 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:35:45 -0500

I am relatively certain that MNDOT has done plenty of traffic studies and employs many professional engineers to handle these types of installations. Everyone can complain about this for as long as they like, but the truth of the matter is that it is in, it is working (how many side impact crashes have we had there since it opened??), and it is going to stay.

Having lived on the east coast for an extended period of time (and still have family there, so visit quite often), roundabouts (or traffic circles, as they're called there) are effective and are not going away. Traffic moves through them just fine, the number of serious injuries has been reduced, and nobody even gives them a second thought.

The bigger question, in my mind, is how many of the people who can't seem to negotiate the roundabout are trying to do so while talking on their cell phones? My bet would be the majority of them.

I am a professional

jamiemarxa — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:24:52 -0500

I am a professional truck-driver. I have done many over-sized, over-dimensional loads, State route 15 is an approved route. I have ran it many times. Roundabouts are made for sideroads, this is the only state i have been in that is actually using them for main roads, most of the rest of them have found that they work on sideroads but cause too much congestion on main roads. This is just one of many times that roundabout will be torn up. Look at hi-way 7. Main route, 2 roundabouts. Can't we all just wait until it opens and we get to see the congestion that comes with it. I have had experience with roundabouts for years out east, they have been doing them for years. There is always congestion and accidents that come with them. States like new york, pennsylvania, massechutes and others are getting rid of them as they cause too much congestion, but if you want to slow people down, they work. Just wait until the wind power plants really take off and imagine what will happen then.

I believe the number is just

just1opinion — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:40:15 -0500

I believe the number is just under 90 of them already in place or being planned for MN over the next few months. And yes, there are others going on highways and major traffic streets in cities a lot larger than Hutch.

Everyone should get used to

Terry Davis — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:06:37 -0500

Everyone should get used to the roundabouts. Besides the two in Hutchinson and two on Highway 7 between Silver Lake and St. Boni, I heard over the weekend from my nephew working on a construction crew that a roundabout was built in Waconia this summer about a block south of Highway 5 and another one is going in now at Cologne. They are here to stay, folks.

One comment I've heard from some people is that a few drivers stop and yield when they don't have to. I suspect those are some of the same people who don't grasp the concept of how to merge properly onto a freeway. Or perhaps it is just a case of "Minnesota Nice" with drivers not understanding that deferring to vehicles when not necessary actually disrupts the flow.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)

There's several parked at

itsjustme — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:42:28 -0500

There's several parked at the empty lot that used to be the 7 West truck stop. Probably having a large tube get together or something.

The large tube company must

arcy — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:14:14 -0500

The large tube company must have gotten the word because another one came through town this mornign at 7:00 a.m. It was on Hwy 7, going past SA when I saw it. It was headed east.
Oh and FYI Craft Fair goers do NOT know how to use the roundabout!!

I had a local MnDOT official

Terry Davis — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:39:25 -0500

I had a local MnDOT official tell me Monday, after a similar truck did minor landscaping damage at the roundabout over last weekend, that they did have a permit to travel State Highway 15. What was unclear at that point was whether that was issued pre-roundabout or after. I believe these have State Patrol escorts, so it isn't all on the driver.

But there does appear to be some coordination problems between the hauler, State Patrol and MnDOT related to these loads. A friend of mine reported driving east out of Willmar about two weeks on Highway 12 and pacing a BNSF train. My friend got ahead of the train a couple of miles and planned to turn south on Highway 4 at Grove City to go to Cosmos. When he got to the turn, it was all jammed up with one of these trucks stuck on the Highway 4 crossing of the tracks. Apparently no one from the trucking company or State Patrol bothered to inform the railroad dispatcher because within a couple of minutes here came the train around the curve west of Grove City. The engineer spotted the truck, threw his train brakes into emergency and prayed. It came to a screeching halt about 150-feet short of the crossing and truck. A little too close too call for everyone involved.

These are pretty unusual loads. Not many trucks out there are almost 200 feet long. He did go through once some signs were removed that were infringing on his overhang.

Someone commented that a towed mobile home would have as much trouble as this truck. I don't think any mobile home, even with the tractor included, come anywhere near 200 feet long. I'm not sure that is a good comparison for a very unusual situation.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)

The "Professional" driver

JHat — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:21:45 -0500

The "Professional" driver took an un-approved route for a vehicle it's size...215 feet long and 15.5 feet wide according to an article on the Herald-Journal.com The actual approved route was from St Cloud to Litchfield and then onto Hwy 7 west of Hutch... avoiding Hwy 15 entirely. Once again you're not dealing with a problem roundabout, you're dealing with a stupid driver.

Allow me to say it....*I

flowerladytoo — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:01:17 -0500

Allow me to say it....*I told you so*. MNDot and the City of Hutchinson KNOW this is a farming community, and as such there will be loads like this of and on. I see loads like this several times a year on Hwy 15. This will keep happening. What a mess!

I don't believe any road

B@ssDoctor — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:46:32 -0500

I don't believe any road system is built to accept a wind turbine or a house mover. Heck, we should even make it big enough for the psace shuttle in case that comes through.

I guess you can't satisfy everyone....

I find it interesting that

williamj.lepetomane — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:41:40 -0500

I find it interesting that the leader didn't do the story on the mosquito that bit me this summer in spite of the spraying program. We now have proof that the mosquito program was a complete boondoggle and the idiots that supported it should be expelled from the city!! I didn't hear this kind of rancor from the first fender bender that occured at the 15 and 22 intersection after the completely foolproof traffic lights were installed there. I can't figure out the reason for the high curbs on the outside of the roundabout but I do like not having stop for more than a couple of seconds at this intersection. It's not perfect, and if you had seen the actual size of that load(I did), you'd know that wasn't the only time they had to stop. The true test of this intersection won't come until fishing opener next year, I might bring a lawn chair up to the outpost for that bit of entertainment.;) It's going to be hard to track the accidents that don't happen and the cumulative time saved by drivers who regularly use this intersection so it's going to be easy for those who are so inclined to lampoon it at the drop of a hat. It's there. I advocate that everybody use it to get to the bait shop and gun shop and get outdoors at the best time of year. Perhaps there would be a little less grumbling here?

gov.

I find it interesting that

JaneDoe_22 — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:56:21 -0500

I find it interesting that the Hutchinson Leader did not print this story in Thursday's edition (or may be I missed it). Could it be because these folks who were truly in support of this abomination would now have to eat crow? Again, a roundabout does not belong on a major highway - it works fine on city streets, but now we have proof that it doesn't work with the heavy traffic that major highways sustain. Good luck, fellas, we are now stuck with a big fat white elephant!! I wonder how many other big rigs will get stuck in this intersection? How about these guys who move homes - can they make through or will need to stop traffic, remove signs and allow them to pass?