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<br />turning left into the student parking lot. Some motorists did not seem familiar with the system, <br />and found it necessary to find gaps to exit the queue and merge into thru traffic. Vehicle <br />speeds are limited during peak hour due to high traffic volumes. <br />. Students were using the pedestrian crosswalk on School Street to access the student parking <br />lot indicating proper placement. Motorists stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk as required by <br />Minnesota Motorist Laws. <br />. Westbound buses on School Street stopped on School Street to allow vehicles exiting the <br />bus-loading zone to turn left onto School Street. <br /> <br />Evaluation of Traffic Conditions <br /> <br />A crash analysis as documented in Figure 3 was completed for intersections along School Street <br />using MnDOTls Traffic Safety Fundamentals Handbook. The intersections included Jackson <br />Avenue, the Elk River High School parking lot entrance, the Vandenberge Junior High School <br />Entrance, and Proctor Avenue. Crash data were evaluated for the last three years at all locations <br />except at the entrance to the student parking lot from School Street. Crashes were only <br />evaluated for two years at this location due to the improvements made at that time. Over 75 <br />crashes occurred on School Street from east of Proctor Avenue and west of Jackson Avenue in <br />the last three years, with four of these being pedestrian crashes. Most vehicle crashes included <br />only property damage, with only one reporting serious injuries. <br /> <br />Crash rates were calculated at each location and compared to average rates at similar locations <br />throughout the State of Minnesota. In order to determine whether or not the intersections were <br />unsafe, a critical crash rate was calculated for each location. The critical crash rate takes into <br />consideration the average crash rate and the volume of vehicles entering the intersection in order <br />to provide statistically reliable evaluation of safety. Intersections with crash rates under the critical <br />value were considered safe because the probability was high that those crashes were due to the <br />random nature of crashes as opposed to a deficiency at the intersection. The crash rates at <br />intersections along School Street that were found to operate above the critical crash rate were the <br />access to the student parking lot and Jackson Avenue. <br /> <br />Figure 3 <br />Crash Rates <br /> <br />2 <br />.2 en 1.8 <br />= Q.) 1.6 <br />~ ~ 1.4 <br />[) -; - 1.2 <br />c.> 6; 1 <br />.;~.s 08 <br />0::: 'i: . <br />J: $ 0.6 <br />~ tD 0.4 <br />U 0.2 <br />o <br /> <br /> <br />Proctor Avenue School Street and School Street and School Street and School Street and <br />and VJHS Proctor Avenue VJHS ERHS Jackson Avenue <br /> <br />Location <br /> <br />o Average Crash Rate lil Critical Crash Rate D Intersection Crash Rate <br /> <br />Howard R. Green Company <br />Elk River High School Safety Study <br />O:\PROJ\814360j\Memo.doc <br /> <br />- 5- <br />