Every year, hundreds of wrecks take place in Albert Lea.

Whether it’s one car rear-ending another car, a car missing a stoplight and then T-boning another automobile, or one driver sliding into another on an icy road, automobile collisions happen sometimes when a person least expects it.

What streets and intersections in the city are the most crash prone?

The statistics

According to Albert Lea Police Department crash data from the last three years, intersections on Bridge Avenue and Main Street have a significantly higher number of crashes than other streets in town.

The 2009 crash data reveals that out of the 264 total crashes that happened by the end of November of this year, 58 of those crashes occurred on Bridge Avenue — anywhere from Clark Street out to Interstate 90 — and 48 happened somewhere on Main Street.

In 2008, there were 55 crashes on Main Street and 50 on Bridge Avenue, out of a total of 324 crashes.

Similarly in 2007, there were 61 on Bridge Avenue and 61 on Main Street, out of a total of 304 crashes.

There’s also been a notable number of crashes on Broadway Avenue. In 2007 there were 32; in 2008, 41; and in 2009, 17, according to the numbers.

“Other than those, they’re all over town,” said Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.

Though the wrecks on Bridge and Main are similar in number, they are not similar in the severity of crashes on each.

On Bridge Avenue, there are more minor-injury or no-injury crashes, with more automobiles rear-ending others, and on Main Street there are more injury crashes, such as one car T-boning another.

Winkels said the intersection of Hammer Road and Bridge Avenue seems to have significant crashes.

“When they hit, they really hit,” he said. “But that’s because that’s a higher speed.

“Bridge and Hammer is controlled by a stoplight, but we still have people who blow the stoplight.”

Crash data shows that the intersection of Bridge and Hammer has been one of the leading intersections for crashes over the last three years.

In 2007 there were five crashes at this intersection; in 2008 there were nine; and in 2009 there were eight.

Other high-crash intersections on Bridge Avenue are at Hawthorne Street, Fountain Street and Richway Drive, with a total of 16, 17 and 18 wrecks there respectively over the last three years.

For Main Street, the intersection with Broadway Avenue is one of its leading locations of fender benders, with a total of 16 crashes there in the last three years. Other intersections high on the list were Main Street’s junctions with Washington Avenue, Garfield Avenue and Katherine Street.

On Broadway Avenue, the intersections with Front Street and Clark Street top the list.

Why all the crashes?

Winkels said he thinks part of the problem with all the crashes on Bridge Avenue is that Freeborn County leaders removed parking on the street in 2007. Bridge is also County Road 22.

“That created a wide open thoroughfare,” he said. “I feel that when they had more parking out there, people had to be conscious of the parking. When we opened it up, we created a wide-open freeway out there.”

Freeborn County Engineer Sue Miller said she drives down Bridge Avenue a lot going to her office at the Freeborn County shop on Bridge north of Interstate 90.

“I think that driver behavior is one of the biggest factors in crashes on Bridge Avenue,” Miller said, without reviewing the statistics.

Winkels also talked about distractions.

“Texting, cell phones, no one’s going to admit it, but why would you not see a car is stopped in front of you?” he said. “Cell phones are a big distraction for drivers.”

Another problem is in having multiple teenagers in a car with Albert Lea High School nearby.

“The more kids in the car, the more chance you have of getting in an accident, especially for teenage drivers, inexperienced drivers,” he added. “Studies show that causes accidents just because of distractions. Throw a cell phone in there or a video game, that just adds to it.”

On Nov. 17, a 1995 Toyota Camry collided with a 2002 Ford Ranger at the corner of Fountain Street and Bridge Avenue.

The driver of the Toyota was 18-year-old Serah Ogunkanbi of Albert Lea. With Bridge having a slight curve, it can be difficult to see cars pulling out from Fountain, she said. She said the junction has been problematic for many drivers, especially with additional entrances to the busy street from a strip mall and a gas station, and said the city could add more lanes or better traffic control.

Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic counts show there are about 12,700 cars daily on Bridge Avenue where it meets Fountain and about 6,600 cars daily on the stretch of Fountain where it meets Bridge. The numbers are higher than where Bridge meets Hawthorne Street, which has a stoplight that some drivers feel is not needed. There, Bridge has 10,100 cars daily, and Hawthorne has 2,500.

Jennifer Vogt-Erickson, who walks on Bridge Avenue frequently from her house on St. Thomas, said as a walker she’s noticed a lot of times drivers aren’t aware of walkers. She’s almost gotten hit on more than one occasion.

She said she has not witnessed a wreck on the street personally, but she has heard of four wrecks involving students, mostly fender-benders.

Vogt-Erickson, a ninth-grade world history teacher, said before and after school Bridge Avenue is traveled a lot more. When it comes to student drivers, they’re probably not as experienced or they might be distracted for various reasons.

On Main Street, where the wrecks are more serious, Winkels said it’s about people taking the extra time to stop and look twice.

Sometimes small automobiles are not as visible next to a larger one, as is sometimes the case on far East Main near trucks stops Trail’s and Love’s.

What can be done to improve?

Miller said Freeborn County is about ready to conduct a comprehensive countywide safety plan, which will help the county figure out strategies that will be needed to reduce life-changing crashes.

Though there are not serious injuries on Bridge Avenue, the street will be analyzed as part of the plan.

She will be looking specifically at emergency response, engineering, enforcement and education and how these things can be applied to reduce the number of fatal crashes, she said. A lot of what is learned can be applied on other streets as well, she added.

Winkels said he doesn’t think opening up Bridge Avenue to a four-lane road would prevent any wrecks.

When asked about eliminating access points on Bridge, he said there have been a few wrecks where people are pulling out of driveways and are stopped and get rear-ended.

“Anytime you remove access, you do lesson the risk of an accident, but that would be of significant cost,” he said.

Vogt-Erickson said she thinks more people should walk and bike more. There needs to be better routes for students to get to the high school in these methods.

She said she wishes someday Garfield Avenue will be extended to the high school.

“When they planned the school, it seemed as if they just planned it for people to drive there,” she noted. The ALHS sidewalk also needs to be extended for walkers, which could also help with the congestion before and after school.

City Engineer Steven Jahnke could not be reached for this story.