TRAFFIC

Highway 14 traffic has been a concern in the Eagle Lake area, namely the intersection of CR 56 and Hwy 14 (by Casey's).  4 years ago the intersections at CR 55/Hwy 14 and CR 27/Hwy 14 were converted to "J-turns" to eliminate direct left turns onto Hwy 14. 

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For the traffic study we witnessed a camera in place near the area by Hwy 14/CR27 on Tuesday, August 7 2019.  It was gone by the weekend.  A few weekdays halfway through summer is a serious misrepresentation of the amount (and type) of traffic that intersection and CR 27 already sees. There is NO way it accurately captured the amount of personal vehicles, farm equipment, campers, pontoons, boats, motorcycles, semi-trucks, etc. that use County Road 27.  The increase of watercraft or motorcycle traffic is on the weekends, when people head to one of the local lakes (Madison, Duck, Ballantyne, Washington, Jefferson, etc.) or are out for a ride.

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While there isn't suppose to be any racing events, some charity or corporate events are mentioned to happen "3-4 times a month".  These will likely be on weekends.  

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• Having lived here for a number of years, I'm well aware of how long someone can sit at CR27, waiting to take a right turn onto Hwy14.  More times than not, right lane traffic won't (not can't) move over to the empty left lane and allow another vehicle to turn onto the highway. 

• When large farm equipment or a loaded semi-trailer needs to head east, they need to cross 2 lanes of traffic to get to the J-turn.  While a car can do it quickly, that's not the case for others.  

• When those same slowing moving vehicles need to head west and need time to accelerate, there isn't an acceleration lane there to do so.

• Far too often, vehicles coming from CR55/LeRay Ave who want to go west will turn at the CR27 intersection (instead of going up to the J-turn) and make an illegal left turn.  There have been close calls with a illegal left turn almost meeting a legal right turn.

• When coming from CR55/LeRay Ave and wanting to turn left on CR27 a vehicle has to wait for a clearing in 65mph traffic, make a lane change while trying to slow down (but not too much because traffic is coming) as you approach the left turn lane.  It's an awkward distance to speed up and slow down right away.

Point being with these observations: more traffic heading that way is NOT needed.  With the exception of Byron, all the other small towns along 4-lane Hwy 14 (Nicollet, Janesville, Waseca, Dodge Center, Kasson) all have overpasses.  If Eagle Lake had plans to expand across Hwy14, was this addressed when those intersections were changed 4 years ago?  Should they approve this project and traffic becomes an issue, what will be done then?  

Below I have included a gallery of the involved intersections and diagrams for expected traffic patterns.