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State transportation officials spoke to an audience last week in the Lindstrom Community Center assuring the visitors that whatever the city council adopts for a highway layout MnDOT will support. There are two options the city is presenting, one is a “median” plan and the other is the “two way pairs.”

MnDOT’s Nick Thompson told about 25 people gathered, “We have two good options, we would be accepting of either one.”

Thompson explained that detailed cost estimates don’t get finalized until after the local city council forwards a design layout to the state. There’s a cost-sharing formula for funding state road projects that won’t vary whether the pairs or median plan is pursued. MnDOT basically likes to identify the project and then get funding appropriated, Thompson said. He also guessed this entire project could require being spread over more than one year of MnDOT’s appropriations.

He used the North Branch Highway 95 bridge and roadway rebuild as an example. Anytime along the process the city can determine it can not afford something and be heard by MnDOT. A project doesn’t move forward without “municipal consent” which is what North Branch City Council recently granted its state project.

Engineers explained one way pairs is potentially more costly than the median plan, but it was pointed out the pairs will be effective for more years into the future as far as resolving congestion and carrying actual vehicles. The pairs’ advantage during construction is it makes continued use of the corridor easier, keeping access to businesses open, etc. The project will be a two-season project, whichever design is accepted.

The dissent remains focused on what’s best for the mid-section of the highway through Lindstrom. There will be a new bridge on the west side, there will be a frontage road for residential access being deleted near County Road 14 and on the east end there will be a tunnel for pedestrians.

City Administrator John Olinger said the city can not just “do nothing.” He said Lindstrom has underground projects that also must be accomplished, like major watermain replacement.

The city wants to meet the state goals of having travel time “shortened” through town where flow now backs up. “But we also want people to be able to stop in town and the city to be accessible.” Olinger said. “Neither plan is perfect, we know that.”

The city must have a design preference agreed upon by March. There is a January public hearing tentatively planned (no date yet) where the planning commission and city Economic Development Authority to meet along with council members.

Some people in the audience questioned whether there will be further study for issues like noise and any new traffic patterns in neighboring areas that might result from reconfiguring the highway. They were assured there’d be engineering models created based on traffic flow projections depending on which design option is preferred.

Business owner Mary Ann Jindra spoke at length about the third option she claims has “never been seen by anybody” and asked if there could be a public meeting on this layout. She said the downtown highway study group which met for about two years, before it was disbanded, had developed this design.

There was disagreement when she said the study group voted to endorse the option. Olinger responded that was “not true” and said in none of the meetings he attended was there a vote taken. Jindra was told, however, that if there’s another feasible highway project to consider there will be review done on it.

Another public question was if the engineers could site an example where one-way pairs have benefited a local economy?

Thompson said he wasn’t aware of any specific economic benefit studies but he said the city of St. Michael looked into its downtown highway issues and selected one-way pairs to build-- beginning in 2008. “St. Michael chose the pairs as the best for their business needs,” he summed up.

City Engineer Jack Griffin said the median plan has been recently tweaked in response to local concerns about turn movements in downtown and access at certain streets like Park St. The “very limited” turn options have been opened up in the latest median design, he added.

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