Minnesota Department of Transportation employees Jerry Schroeder, Galen Henjum and Don Van Hauer dig a hole Wednesday to install a stop sign at the intersection North Business 71 near the Health and Human Services building. MnDOT is installing new stop signs, yield signs and flashing LED lights at the intersection, the scene of numerous car crashes in recent years including one this week. Also pictured inside the loader is MnDOT employee Tony Skare. Tribune photo by Bill Zimmer

WILLMAR — On the heels of yet another accident this week, crews from the Minnesota Department of Transportation began installing a unique set of traffic signs Wednesday that could help reduce the number of crashes at the intersection.

The signs will be equipped with solar-powered, light-emitting diodes (BlinkerSign®) — more commonly called LED lights — that will flash warnings to drivers to stop or yield.

The flashing lights, which will outline the perimeter of the signs, will be visible in daylight and at night.

“Our hopes are to see a very noticeable reduction in accidents,” said Jon Henslin, MnDOT traffic engineer. The intersection, located on North Business 71 near the Health and Human Services building, has been the site of an unusually high number of two-vehicle accidents in recent years. Many have resulted in injuries. The intersection has perplexed engineers who say there is no easy way to explain why the accidents are happening there.

Some have attributed it to driver inattention.

A study of the intersection shows most of the accidents happen when vehicles attempt to cross the northbound lane of Business 71. Vehicles going east or west apparently pull out in front of high-speed traffic that is going north on the four-lane, divided highway, despite stop signs at the the intersection with the highway lanes and yield signs in the median of the divided highway.

Parts of the intersection are owned by Kandiyohi County, the city of Willmar and the state.

In late January engineers and other representatives from all three entities sat down to discuss options for making the intersection safer. They acknowledged that action taken in 2006, including widening the turning radius, had failed to reduce the number of accidents.

That forced the group to look at new options, including closing the median and rerouting traffic, installing traffic lights, building a diamond intersection or building a roundabout.

Members of the group agreed to try the attention-getting signs as another short-term fix to the problem before more costly long-term options are pursued.

Even the short-term fix has a price.

Materials for the new signs — including the batteries, solar components and hefty pedestals — cost about $11,000, Henslin said. The cost will be split between the three entities. [Kandiyohi County, the city of Willmar and the state]

While the project may not have moved ahead as fast as people wanted, Henslin said it took time to research the product and receive the equipment from the manufacturer. After that, he said, they had to wait for the frost to go out of the soil to install the pedestals to support the signs.

“It does take time,” he said. “We’re trying to get it done as soon as possible.”

Barring any problems with the equipment or installation, Henslin said the lights “could be blinking by (today).”

The intersection will continue to be monitored to see if the lights make a difference.

“We’re going to watch it and see what happens,” he said. “If this does it, great. If it doesn’t, then we’ll need to look at other options, including closing the median off.”