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The City of West St. Paul is hosting an open house for the Smith/Dodd intersection realignment. The new plan creates three “T” intersections and closes portions of Dodd Road in an attempt to fix difficult sight lines and long crosswalks.
- When: Thursday, April 11 from 5-7 p.m.
- Where: Doddway Shopping Center in a vacant storefront to the right of Oxendales.
- What: City staff, council members, the project designer, and a representative from MnDOT will be available to answer questions.
- Why: The area has seen 20 recorded accidents between 2018 and 2022. The Dodd and Bernard intersection specifically has a crash index 2.5 times higher than the national average.
- More: Additional information on the project is available on the city website.
Proposed Realignment
Here’s a look a the proposed realignment, which closes Dodd Road between Bernard Street and Smith Avenue, while moving the signaled Smith/Dodd intersection farther south:
Project Details
- Timeline: Final design will happen in 2024 with another potential open house in the fall and construction expected to start in 2025.
- Benefits: In addition to safety improvements, the project will create additional space for public gatherings (presumably with an addition to Albert Park), a permanent memorial for Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick, stormwater treatment enhancements, upgrades to city utilities, and more.
- Redevelopment: The redevelopment of Doddway Center, first proposed in 2021, is not a part of the intersection project. There hasn’t been an official update to the redevelopment project and there won’t be one at the open house.
- History: The realignment plan started in 2017 and $3.1 million in federal money spurred the project on in 2023.
April 12, 2024 Update
The meeting had a big turnout with multiple city and MnDOT staff, Council members, the mayor, local business owners, and many neighbors attending. Some additional updates from the meeting:
- Albert Park: The pavement in the vacated section of Dodd Road will be torn up and seeded with grass to expand Albert Park as a temporary measure until the redevelopment plans are finalized. Earlier proposals showed a potential plaza in that space.
- Memorial: Details about a permanent memorial for Officer Scott Patrick are being discussed with the family and nothing is finalized. There are several potential locations, including in the expanded Albert Park and closer to the site of Patrick’s death.
- Zak’s Auto Service: Another vacated section of Dodd Road will likely become park of the parking lot for Zak’s Auto Service, but there are complicated legal issues that will likely delay that piece of the project.
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2 Responses
Not sure if I’m interpreting it correctly, but does this mean that to go south on Dodd will now require
Also, is there any assessment as to how this will impact the entrance to Foodsmith?
This seems to b part of a much larger plan to eradicate Dodd Rd entirely in many different municipalities.
I don’t see exactly what was wrong with the traffic circle solution. It seems adequate for Wentworth & Oakdale, Thompson & Oakdale, Wentworth & U.S. 52 East and West sides.