How was your Saturday night? Did you go to the lake? Stay in? Or you could have gone to the Straight Up and Toasted event downtown maybe? Well, if you live on 16th street Southwest near the water treatment plant (You know, right where there's that curve where no one does the speed limit at?) You may have noticed a slight disturbance between 1:00 am and 2:00 am in the morning.
Per the Minot citizen connect Crime Map, and a source near the accident, Police and EMS would go on to respond to an accident in which a Truck had collided with a house on the West side of the street after speeding through the curve in the road. Now, upon arriving, first responders would see not only the truck sticking out of the front of the house, but also 2 separate vehicles clearly struck, with one of which forced into the garage of a different residence. According to the Minot PD’s Facebook post, the following took place: “A 2012 Chevrolet Silverado traveling northbound on 16th St SW went off the west side of the road and struck two unoccupied vehicles parked in a driveway. The Silverado pushed the vehicles into the attached garage of the first home. The Silverado then continued through the attached garage of the next home, where it came to rest in front of the unoccupied home.” Local sources took pictures of the incident's immediate aftermath, showing the destruction of both garages which would need to be stabilized by the Minot Fire Department overnight. The driver of the Silverado, 20, was treated for minor injuries, before being transported to Ward County Jail where he was charged with DUI (2nd offense), Unlawful possession of Consumption of Alcohol, Reckless Endangerment (Class C Felony), and Criminal Mischief (Class A Misdemeanor).
Minot has long had issues with traffic in that area, especially since removing the 4 lanes that traversed from the intersection of 16th street and 2nd Ave and 16th and 4th Ave. This has created a common bottleneck in the inside lane at this area, where again, people commonly exceed the speed limit. New construction is proposed for the area to widen the road by adding left turn lanes, or even a potential roundabout to be placed in the area. This will hopefully alleviate many traffic issues in the area; but will first require a multi-year-long construction project, and several property owners to grant the City easements or right of way. Construction is slated to begin in 2025, and cost over $20 million, with funding largely coming from Federal and State sources.
