Box truck rear-ends pickup at Highway 53 red light, two hurt
Two drivers were hospitalized after a box truck slammed into a pickup at Highway 53 and Midway Road, a crash that is now raising fresh safety questions for the corridor.
A box-style truck rear-ended a pickup stopped at a red light at Highway 53 and Midway Road in Canosia Township, sending both drivers to the hospital and adding another serious crash to one of St. Louis County’s busiest traffic corridors.
The St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office said emergency responders were dispatched just before 10:30 a.m. May 12 to the two-vehicle crash in the intersection of Hwy 53 and Midway Road. Investigators determined the pickup was stopped in the turn lane at a red light when the larger box truck hit it from behind. Both vehicles sustained major damage, underscoring how quickly a single impact can turn a routine stop into a major scene on a trunk highway.
Both drivers were taken by ambulance for treatment of injuries that appeared to be non-life-threatening. Even so, the crash carried consequences far beyond the intersection itself, with the potential for medical costs, lost work, transportation disruptions and a longer recovery for the people involved. The driver of the box truck was cited after the investigation, and the sheriff’s office identified Sgt. Nick Voltzke as the media contact for the incident.
The response drew in the Hermantown Police Department, Minnesota State Patrol, Hermantown Fire Department, Canosia Township Fire Department, St. Louis County Rescue Squad and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. That kind of multi-agency response reflects the stakes when a crash happens on Highway 53, where traffic volume and scene safety matter not just for the drivers involved but for everyone moving through Duluth, Hermantown and the surrounding township.
The crash also lands in a corridor that county planners already flag as a safety concern. St. Louis County’s Midway Rd Corridor Study says the existing traffic signal system at US 53 and Midway Rd has reached the end of its service life, and it identifies frontage-road intersections immediately adjacent to the main crossing as additional conflict points. The study includes US 53 at Midway Rd among the intersections under review, and it draws input from agencies and local stakeholders including the Minnesota State Patrol, the City of Hermantown, Canosia Township and local businesses.
MnDOT’s traffic-data systems also track official annual average daily traffic and truck-volume counts on Minnesota roadways, including trunk highways such as Highway 53. That makes the Canosia Township crash part of a broader public-safety picture: one rear-end collision at a signalized intersection can ripple outward across a corridor built to carry heavy traffic, commercial vehicles and daily commuter flow.
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