Engagement summary and study area needs

We gathered feedback from the public on the current conditions along and across Hwy 7, including safety and mobility concerns with an online survey and comment map in June and July of 2024. Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey and comment map. Your feedback helped us understand your experiences of Hwy 7 and ideas for improvement. The survey and comment map closed on Sun, July 7, 2024. If you missed the deadline and would still like to submit your feedback, you can leave a comment or question or reach out to the Hwy 7 study team at hwy.7.study.info@state.mn.us or 651-234-7505.

What people said

According to the survey results, 60% of survey respondents use Hwy 7 daily, while 30% of respondents use Hwy 7 multiple times per week. Ninety (90) percent of all survey respondents are frequent users of Hwy 7.

A graphic displaying survey results of how often survey respondents use Highway 7. 60 percent us Highway 7 daily, 30 percent several times a week, 6 percent once a week, 4 percent one to two times a month and 1 percent rarely.

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According to the survey results, 52% of respondents reported that driving conditions do not feel safe or comfortable on the road, 75% of respondents said that walking conditions are not safe or comfortable and 71% of respondents said that biking conditions are not safe or comfortable along Hwy 7.

A graphic displaying the full survey results of how comfortable people feel driving, walking and biking along or across Highway 7.

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Looking to the future of Hwy 7, we asked participants to rate the importance of several elements. The results for those who marked these elements as “Important” and “Very important” are as follows:

Safer intersections: 93%
Reduced congestion: 87%
Fewer driveway conflicts: 68%
Better pedestrian facilities: 66%
More environmentally friendly roadway: 57%
Better access to businesses: 56%
Better bike facilities: 48%

The top 10 themes mentioned in the survey were:

Traffic
Congestion
Speed and traffic violations
Infrastructure improvements
Public transit
Environmental preservation
Community connectivity
Safety
Pedestrian and bicyclist safety
Noise

Read the full engagement summary.

Study area needs

As a part of the Hwy 7 study, we also gathered and analyzed information about the study area. This included existing community plans, traffic counts, crash history, and road operations. Based on this analysis, we identified the following needs for the study area:

Vehicle safety: Vehicle safety is an identified need along Hwy 7. This is documented in the history of fatal and severe injury crashes that have occurred. Multiple intersections exceed statewide averages for crashes and severity. The most severe crash types are lane departure crashes and angle crashes at intersections.
Vehicle mobility: Vehicle mobility is an identified need along Hwy 7. There is a high level of side street delay at both signalized and unsignalized intersections. Mainline delay exists at multiple intersections along the road and is anticipated to increase in the future.
Walkability / bikeabilty: Walkability and bikeability is a need along Hwy 7 due to the poor safety performance including fatalities as well as the difficulty crossing and traveling along the highway. Hwy 7 is also identified in several local and regional plans to improve mobility for multiple modes of transportation along the road.

Next steps

Based on the current conditions of the roadway, study area needs and the public feedback we received, we will develop ideas for improvements and get feedback from the public later in the study through public meetings, events and surveys.