Upcoming changes to Diffley Road and EHS entrances

Kaitlyn Fisher, Staff Writer

This year has brought many developments regarding the functioning of the school, from going to full distance, to an entirely new hybrid schedule, and going back four days a week. The new Diffley Road plan is just another wave amidst the flood of changes.

What exactly is this new plan? According to Dakota County, the plan includes the narrowing of Diffley Road to one lane of traffic, the construction of two single-lane roundabouts at Daniel Drive and Braddock Trail, a new Eagan High School access point, and parking lot improvements. The building process is supposed to start in late Spring 2021 and end in the fall- a quite ambitious undertaking.

Dakota County has stated that the main objectives of the project are to: “Increase pedestrian safety and connections, increase awareness of the school area, provide safe facilities, lower vehicle speeds,” and to “reduce pedestrian and vehicle conflict points.”

Upon speaking with Eagan principal, Dr. Reikowski, on the main issues of the roads surrounding EHS, she stated, “That’s the biggest thing, congestion.” She also stated that another large issue was slowing down the traffic, saying “On days when kids were in school they put blinking lights and the speed sign and all that. We added crossing guards in December of 2019, but there’s still more to be done.”

When I asked about the general feedback to this whole project, Dr. Reikowski said that for the most part, the feedback is positive. “There’s been a lot of discussion about the road that comes down into our hill- people believe it’s going to be worth the effort. The traffic engineers really believe that’s going to be what will make a difference. They even gathered student input.”

Changes to the roads surrounding Eagan High School are currently thought to begin in late May.  Roads access and access to EHS entrances and parking lots will still be accessible.

Construction updates can be found here