Commentary; Posted: 5/8/02

Don't ignore Broadway access road

Cliff Buchan

As development continues along W. Broadway Avenue in Forest Lake between US-61 and I-35, a key question must be addressed by city officials. What to do with the current heavy traffic flows and the volume of traffic that is sure to come?

It is coming. Development is popping up all along Broadway. Culverís has announced plans for a new restaurant and Walgreenís has proposed a large store on what is now Hardeeís and St. Croix Jewelers property. Look up and down Broadway and there are vacant parcels and homes for sale where commercial development will follow.

Traffic will follow and public safety concerns will continue to grow.

More than a decade ago, the city council put in place a plan to take traffic off Broadway and provide better access to businesses on Broadway with a road one block north. A new NW 1st Ave. was to extend from behind the AmericInn Motel east to NW 8th St.

The plan never materialized because of a change in council thinking. But in the decade that has followed, the need for NW 1st Ave. and signal lights to provide safer access on and off Broadway has not disappeared.

Pending plans by Washington County for improvements of the county road could result in medians that will have a major impact on businesses on both sides of Broadway.

As the city continues to monitor the development, it is again time to move forward with permit requests to open NW 1st Ave. There is now some thought the road should extend east to NW 7th St., a move that would require the city to buy residential property. It should be studied.

The city has taken preliminary steps in asking the Army Corps of Engineers for its opinion. Officials of the Corps of Engineers are not enthusiastic about the plan for the road and its overall impact on wetlands and making additional land in wetland areas subject to development.

But until the Corps of Engineers has received a formal permit application and other regulatory agencies can comment, the true status of the road wonít be known. The city council should start now in making plans for this road and the signal system needed to channel traffic off and on Broadway.

The cityís director of public safety is on record supporting the need for some sort of traffic reliever road on the north side of Broadway. Public safety concerns can not be minimized.

Washington County officials have told the city they would work closely with the city in the long term development for the area and how the road plan unfolds. This is another vital step in the planning process.

But there is also a need for involvement of the business community in the Broadway Corridor. It is the business owners and operators who need to step forward at this time.

Their livelihood is at stake and they must be vocal by indicating their wishes to city leaders. If the support is not found here, the project may have little hope.

We believe the Corps of Engineers and other regulatory bodies will carefully weigh wetland concerns and public safety issues and act in the best overall interest of the community.

It is incumbent upon the cityís part, with the backing of the business community, to prepare a well devised plan that deals with public safety issues and has a minimal impact on wetlands.

In any case it is time to begin the planning process before traffic volumes become unmanageable.

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