Slow Down! These Are Dubuque’s 5 Most Dangerous Intersections!

There seem to be a lot of bad intersections in Dubuque, but where are the worst?

Between reaching out to the Iowa DOT and the local Dubuque Police Department, I found data showing which intersections, and which streets, in general, were the worst places for accidents.

I first spoke to Dennis Kleen from the Iowa DOT, who gave me an online resource and crash analysis tool that is used to compile accident data for the entire state. It was pretty intricate, allowing you to break down accidents very specifically.

For instance, if I wanted to find accidents that had fatalities, or were caused by cell phone usage or alcohol consumption, you could break down the data as far as you wanted.

It was a lot of information that would have taken me weeks to break down, so I also called Lieutenant Ted McClimon, Public Information and Crime Prevention for the Dubuque Police Department.

It took him a few days, but he called me back with exactly what I was looking for. He told me that this was data compiled from the dates January 1st to October 19th, 2021.

Before I tell you which intersections are the most dangerous, do you have a guess?

As for the streets over that time period, the most dangerous - in order - were Dodge, Central, Asbury Road, and JFK. Seems about right. I think we've probably all seen some crazy drivers on all of those streets.

As for intersections, these are the top five most dangerous, by the number of accidents logged over the aforementioned dates above.

Number 5 and 4 were actually a tie. They include:

Dodge Street and Hill Street

Whether you're trying to go eastbound to the East Dubuque bridge or into downtown Dubuque, or heading westbound from Mercy Hospital, this part of Dodge is a hotbed for accidents. Knowing there's a light waiting for you at the bottom of Dodge, most days cars stay bumper-to-bumper to prevent anyone from sneaking in front of them or getting ahead.

Dodge Street and the Northwest Arterial

I attribute the accidents here mostly to people racing to make the light. I've also seen fender benders in the turn lane getting onto the arterial when people stop quickly for turning traffic.

#3.) Dodge Street and Devon Drive

What causes all the accidents here? Take your pick! People racing to make the light and all the turning traffic definitely makes this an intersection to avoid. Between Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, and all the Sonic people, it's a lot of extra traffic in the intersection.

#2.) Dodge Street and South Locust Street

It's bad enough waiting for one light, let alone three, so I guess I can see why people are always speeding through this intersection trying to make their light. The dangerous part is the cars that are usually racing as they try to make the turn onto Locust or onto the East Dubuque bridge.

#1.) Dodge Street and Wacker Drive

Here's where the city body shops are getting the most business from. This intersection logs more accidents than any other in the city. Again, people coming over from JFK onto an already busy Dodge Street... and then you factor in all the Hy-Vee and Target traffic, this probably has to do with the sheer amount of vehicles that are doing a lot of turning.

So now you know. If there's a place you're most likely to have a collision, it's Dodge Street and one of its many intersections.

My buddy Ken suggested the headline of this article be "Dodge Dodge to dodge your next accident," so props to him on his clever brain.