Hwy 371 - Nisswa to Baxter

We are studying Hwy 371 between View full-size mapBaxter and Nisswa in Crow Wing County. This roadway is critical for both the local community and the greater region. The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the needs, identify potential future improvements, and determine how and when these improvements should be implemented. The study will include an analysis of traffic, safety, land use, demographics and development. Click here to view the corridor study one pager.

Study goals

• Understand Hwy 371 needs
• Identify future improvements
• Develop recommendations for Hwy 371
• Inform upcoming pavement and safety improvements

Your input helps us

• Define the issues
• Establish project goals
• Develop alternative design concepts
• Determine a vision for Hwy 371

Phase two engagement

Click here to read a summary of engagement from August to October of 2024.

Phase one engagement

Click here to read a summary of engagement from August to November of 2023.

Safety was identified as a top concern in the first phase of the study. Several roads that cross or have access onto Hwy 371 have a higher-than-average crash rate. As we take safety and continued growth of the area into consideration, we also want to maintain traffic flow for both local traffic and traffic traveling though the area. As a result, traffic engineers and transportation planners have developed potential improvements in several places with the highest and most severe crashes.

One improvement we are considering is median U-turns. Also called J-turns, Median U-turns are a way for drivers to cross busy highways by focusing on crossing one direction of traffic at a time.

Instead of taking a left turn or crossing a highway from a side street, the driver turns right onto the highway and merges left to get into the left-turn. The driver watches for a break in traffic and makes a U-turn at the designated median opening.

The new J-turns installed by Brainerd International Raceway have resulted in a 50 percent reduction in crashes since they were completed in November 2022. Learn more about J-turns and how they work: J-turns with captions.