Where a new Highway 371 will be located - in or around Pequot Lakes - was the topic for a Pequot Lakes City Council work session Nov. 15. The council in 2004 had approved a four-lane, through-town 371. This summer, a new vote was taken and the bypass option was favored.
With either route, the council is looking at bridges and options. How do you get across a four-lane 371 in the city? How do you get off a bypass 371 and get on County Road 11 or County Road 112 into the Pequot Lakes business district and schools?
At the Nov. 15 meeting, council member Justin Bolz-Andolshek asked, "Why are we (talking about) bypassing Pequot Lakes?"
"Because of traffic and safety issues," said council member Dave Sjoblad.
"Because it's what the community wants," said council member Jim Oraskovich.
Bolz-Andolshek came to the meeting with a list of questions about how the bypass route would affect the city, including how the city would be accessed from the north and the south with a bypass. Sjoblad said he had met with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and said there could be stoplights at the intersection of County Road 11 and a new 371, or there could be lanes off to the side or there could be roundabouts.
Bolz-Andolshek said he couldn't imagine anything but a bridge and he was of the opinion that MnDOT was against building bridges.
How to get to the downtown Pequot Lakes businesses was a concern for both sides, those in favor of through-town 371 and those in favor of a bypass.
"We have to think 25 years down the line," Sjoblad said. "Someone pays the price whatever we do. Through town kills the town with the limited access points. My feeling is we have better access to the consumer with a bypass."
Just where a bypass would go was another concern.
"We need more information to make a good decision," Oraskovich said. "We need more than a blue line on a map."
"There's stagnation until we know where 371 is going to go," council member Tom Ryan said. "We need to have a timetable."
Ryan said businesses knew that a through-town four-lane 371 might mean they would have little business for two years during construction, but they also knew that at the end of the construction period they would be on the highway. He said no one wants to commit to coming to Pequot Lakes with their business until they know where the highway will go.
Bolz-Andolzhek suggested the council get a definitive timetable from MnDOT. He wanted to know:
What effect would the bypass have on wildlife and noise?
Who is paying the cost, commercial or residential?
Will there be a new commercial district along CSAH 11?
Will businesses receive relocation funds?
Will the city still get the promised backage roads?
What is MnDOT's priority of the project ?
He said safety has to be MnDOT's number one priority. Business retention would be his number two priority and his number three priority is access from the north and south.
Council member Craig Nagel said he was not ready to vote on either a bypass or a through town 371. He'd like planning and zoning to look at what zoning changes need to be made if 371 goes around the city.
Mayor Cathy Malecha said she would research population growth and tax contribution of residents and businesses.
