The people spoke and the Cook County commissioners listened, voting down a rumble strip project and the installation of two intersection lights proposed by the Cook County Highway Engineer’s Office.
With the commissioners’ vote there will be no streetlights placed at the intersections of County Road 7 and County Road 45 or County Road 7 and County Road 6. Adding rumble strips along a 2½-mile stretch of the Gunflint Trail was also taken off the project list. The only project that was voted for approval was the installation of two intersection lights at the intersection of the Gunflint Trail and Devil Track Road (County Road 8), commonly referred to as the four corners.
Sitting before the county board on July 15, 2014, Cook County High School Principal Adam Nelson said he had just purchased a new house next to the County Road 7 and 45 intersection the day before and he asked commissioners, “If you bought a new house would you want to see a light that you could see every night as long as you lived there?”
Nelson said he grew up in a small town of 50 people and cherished the night sky and the quiet living in the country. He and his wife have one child and another on the way, he said, and he asked commissioners to really think about how they would feel if a streetlight was put on or next to their property before they voted on the matter.
Nelson was just one of about a dozen people who gave their strong opinions to the county board at its Tuesday, July 15 meeting. Another 21 people attended a public meeting the night before. At that meeting speakers were nearly unanimous in their opposition to both the rumble strips and streetlights.
A project that had about as much chance to fly as the bull moose painted on the Grand Marais water tower was the addition of 2½ miles of rumble strips on a section of the Gunflint Trail that would start at the water tower and end at County Road 8, the four corners intersection. Rumble strips were to be put in on two feet of additional shoulder. Commissioners wasted little time voting that down.
When Cook County Highway engineer David Betts appeared before the county board a couple of months ago he announced that much to his surprise his department had received all of the safety improvement grants it had applied for.
“We weren’t expecting that,” Betts said at the time, adding that if the county didn’t want to do some of the projects the money could be sent back. None of the money can be used for other projects, Betts said.
At the evening public hearing, Commissioner Sue Hakes said the county would not be penalized when it applied for future grants if they did not accept this funding.
Most people cited light pollution and noise pollution as the reasons they were against the additions. Many people expressed concern that adding a narrow shoulder for rumble strips would actually make the Gunflint Trail more hazardous for bicyclists.
Nelda Westerlind told commissioners she thought both projects were unnecessary, “And a waste of my federal and state taxes,” she asserted.
Bob Pranis, who lives up the Pike Lake Road, said he felt it would be better to have good striping and reflective signs along County Road 7 than a street light added to the intersection of County Road 7 and 45, right where Nelson just purchased his house. “I haven’t seen any explanation of why a light is necessary. I don’t see where the intersection light makes any difference,” Pranis said.
Grand Marais resident Yvonne Mills asked if there had been any accidents at the intersections, and then said she was opposed to night sky pollution and wasted energy. “I value the night sky,” she told commissioners.
Wayne Anderson, life long resident of Maple Hill, said he spoke in opposition of both projects. “We like the dark and we like the quiet and when you put in these things that’s gone. I realize the free money thing, that’s like candy for a kid, but I think the county needs to concentrate on filling in the holes on county roads and not making more holes.” He also said there were plenty of gravel roads that haven’t seen a grader blade in a long time and they provided plenty of rumbles when driven upon.
Maple Hill resident Jean Eisenberger said she was against the lighting projects, especially two lights proposed to be placed near four corners. “Why do we have to have a light there? Free money is not free money because it is taxpayer money. If you’ve got money to spend I think you could find a better way to spend it.”
Charles Flickinger of Hovland said that in days past the county spent money to reduce accidents. He said that if the county engineer could show there were accidents at the intersections or that trucks were going off of the Gunflint Trail where rumble strip were proposed he would be in favor of them. He said rumble strips were ineffective other than on long straight sections to keep truck drivers awake.
Nick Burger, who lives off of Linnell Road, said he uses the Pincushion Mountain area a lot to walk, run, and ski, and he didn’t want to hear the noise of rumble strips. He also said he could see where lights on the intersections proposed along County Road 7 would help prevent accidents.
Bill Simonowicz wondered what it costs to run the lights and Betts said $10 to $40 per month depending upon the year.
County Board Secretary Bev Wolke of Maple Hill (near the four corners) spoke for her entire family and said they were adamantly opposed to the lighting projects and the rumble strips.
The safety grants totaled $124,000, with $100,000 dedicated to paving and adding rumble strips and $24,000 to pay for the installation of four lights at three intersections. The money was to come from the 2015 Highway Safety Improvement Program with 90 percent of that from federal funds and 10 percent from State Aid Funds.
All of the projects were selected from the safety improvements listed in a 2012 Cook County Safety Plan.
When Betts first learned the county had been approved for all of the grants he told the county board that some of the projects would be controversial. Because of negative feedback countywide about rumble strips on Highway 61, Betts said that the public would most probably be against them.
That was borne out in the two public meetings. Commissioner Heidi Doo- Kirk said by her count 59 people had weighed in on the rumble strips and on three intersection lighting projects.
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