Cliff Buchan
News Editor

A business task force that has been meeting for more than two years to help plan the Broadway Corridor project heard more concerns on Oct. 26.

And Washington County and Forest Lake officials were left to explain again the reasons for choosing a plan with seven roundabouts and defending the steps that have been taken.

The improvements to CR-2 (W. Broadway Ave.) have been several years in the planning under the countyís lead. The task force formed more than two years ago to review proposals and options for the corridor and make recommendations to the city and county.

The Broadway plan has centered on seven roundabouts planned for 2007 and 2008. One will be built next summer in downtown Forest Lake at the Lake Street (US-61 and Broadway intersection) while the remaining six at SW 19th St., the east and west ramps of I-35, SW 12th St. and 7th St. and 4th St. are proposed for 2008.

The $18.7 million project will see the Lake and Broadway roundabout wrapped by early fall in 2007 while one construction season is anticipated in 2008 to do the remaining six.

The downtown project was advanced one year to coordinate with a state mill and overlay of US-61 and city plans for new curb, gutter, sidewalks and streetlights from 2nd Ave. S. to 2nd Ave. N.

Last weekís business task force meeting included a city report on signage plans during construction, a plan for new permanent signage rules in the corridor, a landscape plan and a parking study.

A computer enhanced photograph of the Lake and Broadway roundabout was also presented and the county updated the task force on construction and detour plans during the work next July or August. With detours the construction project is slated to last eight weeks.

Concerns

But county and city officials were handed more concerns by residents and business owners on topics that ranged from business interruption worries to the consequences of a new city council backing out of the project next year.

Others asked what contingency plan was in place if the roundabout project is stopped.

Dennis Hegberg, the county commissioner from Forest Lake who represents the north end of the county, assured the group that the county will work in harmony with the city because the city will be asked to cover slightly under 40 percent of the total cost.

Mike Rogers, the county engineer who is leading the project, explained that a detailed process has been in the discussion stage for just under three years and the business task force reviewed close to a dozen possible plans for the corridor before agreeing on the roundabout design.

ìThis is what we believe will work in the corridor,î Rogers said.

Mayor Terry Smith, an active task force participant for the past two years, said enough emphasis is not being put on the safety issues facing the county and the fact the center medians are comingt should concern all business owners within the corridor.

Smith said he has been concerned from the start in how best to provide business access. The roundabout plan, he said, will work best to provide that access while allowing traffic to continue to flow smoothly.

ìThere is a median going down Broadway, no matter what,î the mayor said. ìWe were looking for the best alternative.î

Smith said the issue here is not roundabouts but the center median.

Smithís opponent in the mayoral race Nov. 7 interjected last week that he did not believe the median concept was a final decision and accused Smith of presenting false information.

County view

But Smithís view found support from Hegberg.

With the 12th St. and Broadway the worst crash intersection in the county (58 accidents in the most recent county data collection for 2000-2002), Hegberg said the county has no choice but to address the issue.

The reason, he said, is the liability should the county be sued after a serious crash. If a plaintiff can demonstrate that the county did not address a safety issue, it could well lose in court, he said.

ìWe donít want the liability,î Hegberg said. ìThey will win.î

The ìbottom lineî to improve safety in the corridor will require medians, he said, as a means to eliminate head-on crashes and left-turn crashes.

Rogers said the roundabout plan will accommodate the projected I-35 bridge traffic of 50,000 vehicles a day 20 years out. The bridge currently carries 30,000 vehicles a day.

Officials added that if plans for a second Forest Lake overpass on CR-83 (SW 11th Avenue) can be built in the next five to 10 years as now being planned, the Broadway flow would drop to an estimated 40,000 vehicles a day by 2028.

City Administrator Chip Robinson and other officials pointed out that a new and wider I-35 bridge to handle eight lanes of traffic would require two construction seasons to build. And with any plan for a new signalized freeway intersection, the design for the 12th St.-Broadway intersection would require the removal of the TCF Bank building and the Holiday Station on the east and west sides of 12th Street.

Robinson encouraged business owners and residents to become involved in the city effort to look at a temporary sign plan for businesses in the corridor and to also become involved in the planning process to map the landscaping scheme for the center median area and the roundabout central islands.

That was a point highly recommended by Norman Quackís owner Gordy Skamser who said without solid planning and signage, the impact on businesses could be harmful to the point where some would become stagnant and perhaps face closure.

Officials are also continuing to study parking needs and potential changes that will impact the downtown as a result of the roundabout at Lake Street and Broadway.

That plan has now been approved for final design and the county has moved forward with its application for state funding for the stateís share in the project. County planners said formal talks with property owners for right-of-way acquisition and the purchase of the two business locations on the south and north sides of Broadway west of US-61 will commence their formal negotiations early next year.

Rogers said the current plan is to have the project ready for bids by next spring and be prepared for a July 5 construction start and eight weeks of construction.

That start date is contingent on the MnDOT plan for TH-97 which will see a mill and overlay from I-35 to US-61 some time next summer. Two culverts under TH-97 are also to be replaced, requiring the highway to be closed.

When that happens is uncertain and will impact the downtown project because the state will need to use Broadway as a detour route while TH-97 is closed, Rogers said.

During the downtown roundabout project, the closing of the intersection will cut the construction time in half over what would be required if the work was to proceed with limited traffic use. Through traffic will be routed around Forest Lake on TH-97, I-35 and US-8, but local traffic and business access will be maintained by utilizing Centennial Drive as a detour route.

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