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MN-253 and its condition

Started by MNHighwayMan, May 09, 2018, 05:59:19 PM

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MNHighwayMan

On Saturday (May 5th) I clinched and photographed four short Minnesota routes that are probably not long for this world (I know at least one of them shows up on MnDOT's turnback report): MN-253, 254, 263, and 264. Of particular note was the first one, MN-253. The driving surface was generally in bad to awful condition, but I think the Union Pacific Railroad crossing in Bricelyn, about 1/10th of a mile from the southern terminus of the route, really takes the cake.

A plea, presumably from a resident, to fix the crossing.


A few pictures of the decrepit crossing.




And the same plea written in pink spray paint in the NB lane.


Trust me when I say you go over that crossing slowly.


froggie

Given the roads where I live, I could still easily do that crossing at 50 without breaking a sweat or mucking up my vehicle.

These routes have been on MnDOT's "turnback wish list" for years.  They're likely waiting for enough turnback funding to improve them to a condition that would be acceptable to the respective counties before those counties take them over.

MNHighwayMan

#2
Quote from: froggie on May 09, 2018, 07:10:02 PM
These routes have been on MnDOT's "turnback wish list" for years.

That's why I wanted to clinch and photograph them sooner than later. I had a family function being held in Albert Lea Saturday evening, so I made use of the opportunity by spending the morning and afternoon driving out to Worthington and back to cover those four routes. (I also drove former MN-262 to Granada, too, although I didn't really do any picture taking there.)

But anyway, here's another picture of the awful condition of MN-253. This is right by MM 5.



I will also add that the other three routes were in appreciably better condition than 253. You can tell they're low on MnDOT's funding priority list, but there was nothing quite like that picture on those other three.

paulthemapguy

Employees of the local MnDOT district could also have been the people who painted those pleas on the roadway, since the repair of the crossing would be the responsibility of the railroad company, not the road district.  As you know, the rest of the road is definitely MnDOT's problem, though.

And if MnDOT is dying to transfer MN-253 to an agency on the county or town level, they should probably know that nobody is going to take a garbage road in a jurisdictional transfer.  If they really want to get rid of it, that should just serve as more motivation for them to fix it.  Fixing the road is a prerequisite for anyone else to want to take it off MnDOT's hands; no one is accepting a turd as a gift.  This year, the roadway agency I work for is in the process of fixing a road for the express purpose for turning it over to a local municipality.
Avatar is the last interesting highway I clinched.
My website! http://www.paulacrossamerica.com Now featuring all of Ohio!
My USA Shield Gallery https://flic.kr/s/aHsmHwJRZk
TM Clinches https://bit.ly/2UwRs4O

National collection status: 361/425. Only 64 route markers remain

MNHighwayMan

It's SOP for MnDOT to do improvements to a road they're eager to be rid of. The problem is, there's only so much money in their turnback fund to do improvements like that, and while I don't know its exact status, I'm willing to bet that it's not exactly flush with cash right now.



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