About 30 people from the Pine Haven neighborhood and School Street attended a public hearing Thursday, Nov. 16, at Nisswa City Hall to look at two options to realign the county road, said Loren Wickham, the city's planning and zoning administrator. Residents asked the council to consider a third option involving Norway Lane, so the city engineer will prepare a drawing for that option, Wickham said.

No decisions were made at last week's hearing.

Wickham had sent letters to the 20 or so property owners who could be affected by the road's realignment, including drawings of the first two options.

The realignment of County Road 18 works into a proposed intersection with Highway 371 when that highway is expanded to four lanes from Nisswa to Pine River. That project currently is scheduled for 2014.

County Road 18 realignment has been in the city's plan for future roads since 1998 when the city participated in the Transportation Action Model with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Wickham said. The city wants to approve a concept for realignment so it can submit it to the Crow Wing County Board to put on the county's five-year road plan, he said.

Wickham outlined the three County Road 18 realignment options:

Option 1: Use the existing Pine Haven Road for the realignment, pushing a little east of the existing Pine Haven right-of-way. This option would connect the road to two new developments east of Pine Haven Road - Pine Crossings Town Homes and Pine Trail Homes.

Option 2: Go between School Street and the backs of properties on the back side of Pine Haven Road.

Wickham said he believed this option would cause less disruption to the Pine Haven neighborhood and would allow for connections to the two new developments, as well as access to commercial developments in downtown Nisswa.

Both these options would allow for future expansion of Nisswa Elementary School if needed. The city would need to acquire two houses with these two options as well, Wickham said.

Option 3: Residents proposed using Norway Lane, so the city engineer will prepare a drawing of that option. Wickham said this option possibly would double the length of the road for construction, increasing costs.

However, the option will be looked at Nov. 29.

"We need to narrow it down to a concept for where the road will go so there are no questions about where to develop so people can make future plans," Wickham said.