I am writing in response to the Cook County commissioners’ meeting February 17, 2015. This letter is in regard to Highway Engineer David Betts’ comments concerning the death of the young woman on the Gunflint Trail last year.
That young woman lived on the Trail and worked in town. She made that drive, maneuvered that curve every morning for many months. She was well aware of the curve approaching.
I was told the accident report stated the cause of accident to be one or both of the following, excessive speed and poor tire condition. I am not sure if the gravel mentioned later in this letter was acknowledged in the report or not.
Here are two facts that you may not be aware of:
1) New gravel “shoulders” had been put down prior to this accident (by the Highway Department). I believe it was actually something called pilings left over from a project not completed on the Clearwater public landing. These “shoulders” were soft, deep and flowing over onto roadway in this specific corner.
2) Deep moose tracks were visible in these new soft shoulders right before the accident. Moose activity had been very heavy in that stretch of the road for weeks.
Getting a tire off the pavement onto these shoulders takes all your driving skills (and luck) to keep from going out of control or into the ditch.
Many of us living on the Gunflint Trail spoke about this and its obvious danger BEFORE the tragic accident. Many of us slid in that very gravel spilled onto the roadway.
Any driver could have easily met the same fate when dodging a moose on loose gravel.
Since it is indeed possible the gravel put down by his department could have been a contributing factor to the accident, David Betts should in my view take greater consideration of that rather than focusing so much on the chevron signs.
We had let this go out of respect for her family and close friends, knowing the outcome would not change. Evidently Mr. Betts does not share that concern or respect.
Sarah Hamilton
Grand Marais
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