Editorial: Review safety measures at troublesome intersection

Published 8:50 pm Tuesday, August 27, 2024

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

If you have lived or worked in Albert Lea for at least a year or two, you’re probably familiar with the community’s most worrisome intersections.

Aside from intersections on the east end of Main Street in Albert Lea near the truck stops, on the other end of town on the west end of Main Street near U.S. Highway 69 is an intersection that first responders are also regularly called to.

The crashes at the intersection typically result in injuries, and sometimes even a fatality, as was the case on Monday when a Peterbilt semi and Honda Pilot collided there, killing 84-year-old Roger Jensen of Albert Lea and severely injuring his passenger, Marva Gullord.

Email newsletter signup

While authorities continue to investigate the cause of this week’s crash, the situation was a reminder for many of the number of other crashes that are at that site — and their severity.

This is not the first time there has been a fatality there, and unfortunately, it may not be the last.

In doing a simple search of the Tribune website, we found numerous examples of crashes at the intersection.

In 2007, there was another fatality in the death of 20-year-old Janelle Reule.

In 2013, there was a crash involving a Gold Cross ambulance responding to a medical emergency in Twin Lakes that was struck by a car at the intersection, resulting in the ambulance rolling onto its top in the middle of the roadway. Though that case did not result in any injuries, it illustrates the power behind vehicles and the speed of which many are traveling through there.

This summer in June, three people were taken to the hospital after two vehicles collided in the intersection.

And the list goes on.

We hope this crash and all of the crashes over the years illustrate the need for a review.

What can be done to promote safety there and ultimately improve outcomes?

Do speed limits need to be lowered?

We don’t suggest to know the answer, we just know that in our line of work, we see that intersection come up much more than it should.

We hope authorities use this tragedy to do their due diligence and see if anything can be done.

If nothing can be done, we must at minimum explore further education of the public about safe driving. Then we, as the public, need to do our part to be attentive, reduce distractions and slow down.