Why Do Semis Keep Tipping at the Woodbury Cloverleaf?

It happened again Sunday.

A semi truck overturned on the cloverleaf from Interstate 694 to eastbound Interstate 94 in Woodbury.

“Semis have been tipping over at that cloverleaf for years,” said Lt. Eric Roeske with the State Patrol.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has also taken note of the frequency of and conducted studies of that cloverleaf, said Chad Erickson, a traffic specialist with MnDOT.

“It’s that southbound loop that we have an issue with,” he said.

While Erickson said the Woodbury cloverleaf isn’t the most used design, he attributed the problem more to the volume of traffic in that area and how trucks enter the ramp.

“There’s a whole host of factors involved with (semis tipping),” he said. “It’s something we’re aware of.”

MnDOT has looked at the possibility of reconstructing that interchange, Erickson said, or simply posting information that warns truckers of the danger of tipping.

What usually happens is that a semi is traveling too fast and its load may shift, causing the truck to topple over, Lt. Roeske said. Passenger vehicles typically slide off the road rather than tipping, he said.

There were no injuries in Sunday’s incident, which happened a little after 3 p.m. The truck was transporting apples.

Roeske wouldn’t say that it’s more of a problem at the Woodbury interchange than others, considering it’s downhill and a more heavily travelled location.

Still, “It’s a fairly common occurrence,” he said.

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