Farmington resident Paul Balus pleaded the case for installing traffic controls at the intersection of Highway 50 and Flagstaff Avenue in Farmington after his granddaughter survived a crash that totaled her car.
“On Friday of this past week, my granddaughter was in a car accident,” Balus told the City Council during its Dec. 6 regular meeting at city hall. “How my granddaughter walked away from that with only cuts and bruises was a miracle; thanks to the Lord, she is here.”
The Dec. 3 crash took place after high school was dismissed, as she was traveling south on Flagstaff Avenue and slated to turn east or left onto Highway 50. The car spun around and ended up in a farm field facing north toward the high school.
Balus said his granddaughter was wearing a seatbelt and was not using her cellphone. She was not issued a citation by the police. An ambulance crew checked her out and found she only suffered cuts and bruises.
In an interview, Balus said his granddaughter was on her way to he and his wife’s home in Farmington to get fitted for a dress.
“Praise God because outside of the shock, she is OK, except for a few cuts and bruises, but how she was able to walk away from the accident is nothing short of a miracle,” Balus said. “Only by the grace and protection of our Lord did she walk away from this accident, it could have been a totally different day and life for my family.
“I am not angry, maybe because I am still in a bit of post-accident shock, but I am passionate with my goal here, as well as my family’s, and I believe our entire community needs to push the Farmington City Council and Dakota County to expedite the installation of a stoplight on Highway 50 and Flagstaff,” Balus said.
Understanding policies and procedures, Balus said he knows the county needs to compile data analysis about traffic and accidents at the intersection. But he strongly thinks Dakota County should stop the “departmental internal analysis and get the traffic control installed as soon as possible.”
“If the traffic signal installation does not get done quickly, someone will die at that intersection – the law of probability and statistics will sadly prove to be true,” Balus said.
“This council, this mayor and this staff recognize the need,” for traffic controls, he said.
Explaining how the car crash was pretty horrific, Balus said “She was protected but if you saw the pictures of the car, you would immediately assume there was a fatal accident.”
“Obviously, we are so grateful there wasn’t, but the next time it might be for someone else’s child. This should wake every single member of the Farmington community up to this problem, and they should be contacting Dakota County (Commission) demanding immediate resolution,” Balus said.
Balus said he appreciates the support of the City Council. He also plans to talk with his state representatives about the public safety issue.
The goal, he said, is to make left turns are safe from Flagstaff Avenue onto Highway 50.
“I don’t want what happened to my granddaughter to happen to my second granddaughter at Farmington High School, or any kid or anybody who are just learning to drive,” said Balus. “Their (students) judgment is not there. They may be good drivers, but they do not have the experience that we do.”
Council response
Mayor Joshua Hoyt shared his sincerest apologies with this grandfather and and family, expressing he is grateful the man’s granddaughter walked away from the accident.
The mayor said he recently discussed this traffic control issue with the city administrator, city engineer, Dakota County Commissioner Mike Slavik, the county engineer and statistical county staff.
“We (Farmington City Council) have identified infrastructure as one of our key priorities and goals, and that intersection does present risk no matter what analysis you look at because we all drive it and see it,” Hoyt said.
City Administrator David McKnight said the joint meeting was productive.
Hoyt explained how the city told Dakota County what the want to happen. Dakota County will be responding back to the city soon.
“We set a very strict time frame with them, and our expectation is to have something done by the start of the school year next year, and that is because the peers I sit with now know what happens there,” Hoyt said.
Traffic along Flagstaff Avenue has increased since the high school was constructed due to new single-family home construction and ongoing approved new housing developments.
“Traffic is only growing in that area, and it has to be addressed now before you have a fatality,” Hoyt said. “Rest assured, this is going to be pushed very aggressively, and something has to be done and will be done.”Kara Hildreth can be reached at kara.hildreth@apgecm.com.
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