MnDOT to Study Cable Barriers for Deadly I-94 Crash Site

ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been working in recent years to install more cable barriers in the medians of highways and interstate where cross-median crashes tend to occur. Unfortunately, there was no cable median barrier along I-94 where four college students crossed through the median and were hit by oncoming traffic Monday.

State Traffic Engineer Sue Groth says that area hadn't been a top priority before the crash because of relatively low traffic counts compared to the Twin Cities and few cross-median crashes.

Groth says they will now look at that stretch of interstate to determine its priority level.

So far, Minnesota has almost 260 miles of cable barriers at a cost of $150,000 per mile. Groth says there are some maintenance costs with the cable barriers, but it is still less costly than concrete barriers.