Cars Five, Pedestrians and Bicyclists Zero

Five total lanes: four driving lanes (two in each direction) and one center turn lane; and zero painted crosswalks on nearly a mile of street in the city. That's the design that will be in front of the City Council on Monday night.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will reconstruct Trunk Highway 197 in Bemidji from Lueken's Village Foods south to US Highway 71 in 2010. MnDOT owns and maintains TH197 through town, but has asked the City for municipal consent for the proposed design (Washington Ave to the city limits at the trail overpass bridge). The Council will hold a public hearing at the regular meeting, Monday at 7:00pm, and approve, oppose, or waive municipal consent by resolution after the public hearing.

The proposed design will mirror the rest of TH197, north of the Mississippi River bridge, which also has four driving lanes and one center turn lane--fondly referred to as the suicide lane. That's because all the access points on both sides of the street cause lots opportunities for conflicting turning movements in the center lane.

From my perspective, constructing the south end of TH197 to this design has one purpose: to enable the unobstructed movement of cars from one end of town to the other. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be left in the proverbial dust.

How about a bike lane, some painted crosswalks or something really radical, a center boulevard with greenspace to create a safe stopping place for pedestrians crossing this street. Couldn't the Council suggest them?

A "Catch 22" may keep the City Council from suggesting any changes. That is the ownership of TH197. The state would like to turn it back to the City; something the City wants to avoid. A "turnback" would cost the City a bucket of money in maintenance and upkeep when the bucket is pretty much empty. Avoiding a turnback is the ultimate goal. If the Council asks for changes, the City would not only have to pay for any increase in project costs, but the dreaded ownership question could rear its ugly head.

But that shouldn't keep interested citizens from testifying at the public hearing. If you care about how this public street gets rebuilt, come voice your opinion about the design at the public hearing on Monday, June 15 at 7:00pm. Or better yet, if you want pedestrians and bicyclists to get more attention, call MnDOT and tell them you want roads built for all users not just cars.