St. Louis County closes Midway Township intersection for safety overhaul
Seven crashes in five years pushed St. Louis County to close the Midway Road and North Cloquet Road intersection June 8 for a major redesign.
St. Louis County will shut down the Midway Road and North Cloquet Road intersection in Midway Township on June 8 and rebuild it after a crash pattern put the crossing among the county’s riskiest.
County records show seven reported intersection-related crashes there from 2021 through 2025. The County Road Safety Plan ranks the site fifth out of 1,488 intersections in the county system, placing it in the top 1 percent for risk. The observed crash rate, 0.460 crashes per million entering vehicles, is above both the statewide average of 0.132 and the critical crash rate of 0.400, which county officials say makes the history statistically significant.
The problem is not just traffic volume. County engineers say a hill immediately south of the intersection limits sight distance, making it hard for drivers stopped on North Cloquet Road to see northbound vehicles on Midway Road. A 2022 Intersection Control Evaluation recommended left- and right-turn lanes and lowering Midway Road to improve visibility, and St. Louis County says it has been working since then to secure funding and finish the design.
The project will go well beyond routine maintenance. St. Louis County plans to lower the profile of Midway Road by about 10 feet, add left- and right-turn lanes, install roadway lighting and replace guardrail south of North Cloquet Road. Funding is coming in part through the Local Road Improvement Program.
Both roads will be closed during construction, so the impact will extend beyond the intersection itself. The Midway Road detour will use I-35, Boundary Avenue and US 2. North Cloquet Road east of Midway Road will be routed along Lindahl Road, Stark Road and Erickson Road. No posted detour is planned for North Cloquet Road west of Midway Road, leaving drivers there to find an alternate route on their own.
For commuters, school buses, delivery traffic and emergency responders moving north and west of Duluth and near Proctor, the closure will require extra time and some patience. County officials are betting the tradeoff will be worth it if the redesign reduces the chance of another serious crash at a place where the road geometry has already shown its limits.
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