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The Minnesota Department of Transportation held a celebration on Thursday, September 15, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. to recognize the completion of the Highway 61 project. The venue was moved from the Grand Marais Library lawn to inside of the Grand Marais Art Colony building located on Highway 61 a block away.
Nine employees from MnDOT attended and about 30 members from the public came to the event that was emceed by MnDOT Engineer Duan Hill. Hill kept his remarks short and sweet, lauding the work between the state and the city on the two-year Highway 61 rebuild through town. Jim Boyd, recently retired Chamber of Commerce Director, spoke next.
“In the flow of time, it is inevitable that a road will need renewal. Highway 61 through Grand Marais had reached that point. And if all had gone as it normally does, MnDOT would have reconstructed our highway as a perfectly serviceable concrete and asphalt chute though the middle of our town—pretty much a carbon copy of what has been for decades. Indeed, that seemed the strong intention of the original MnDOT engineer assigned to the project.
Duane Hill
“But there were visionaries in Grand Marais who dared to seek more. They wanted a highway that was less of a fast dangerous-to-cross gash through the village. They wanted a highway that better linked the harbor with the rest of the community. They wanted form and beauty that invited all kinds of human movement: walking, strolling, biking, running, meandering for humans of all capabilities. They wanted speeds and improved child safety!
“I do not have a complete list of “THEY”, and it would be a very long list. But I wanted to name a few of the principals who were at the heart of the effort. Staff members of Sawtooth Mountain Clinic played key roles: Kristin DeArruda Wharton and Maren Webb and Patrick Knight. Numerous city leaders played strong roles as well, but the person who did the most—frequently operating like the wizard behind the curtain because that is how successful city managers keep their jobs— was Mike Roth.
Jim Boyd
“And after an initially difficult start, the better-road advocates in Grand Marais found their partners at MnDOT, starting with District Engineer Duane Hill and Project Manager Mike Kalnbach, both of whom engaged personally with this project to an extraordinary degree. And, ultimately, Ed Welch, day-to-day manager for the actual project.
“We got visionary professional support from the gifted landscape architect C.J. Fernandez. And at several critical junctures in the evolution of the project, we enjoyed quiet, unexpected but very welcome help from the principal MnDOT landscape architect, David Larson.
“I was a member of the steering committee that Mike Toth assembled to offer some advice and oversight on the process. There were many of us who committed hours and hours of meetings to working with MnDOT the details of the project plan.
“Let us especially remember the contributions of Frankie Jarchow, who is not here. She was so faithful in her attendance at the committee meetings; I can recall her moving ever so slowly over the ice around City Hall as she made her way to and from committee meetings, where she would advocate forcefully for the interests of the elderly and handicapped.
“There were dissenters, too. I recall the hot meetings MnDOT officials held with members of the public-over the loss of elm trees, over a design that some thought would cause Grand Marais to look like a suburb of Minneapolis.
“When temperatures cooled, it was possible to acknowledge that the dissention was just a robust expression of how much everyone loves this place. The work continues, actually, as the city and a group called the Creative Economy Collaborative consult on the artful and informative amenities to be added to this new streetscape. We wish them well in their efforts.
“And so here we are. After about six years and a great deal of work, we have renewed and almost-finished Highway 61. It is a joy to behold, for me, and I hope for you. Not only does it work well, it exemplifies active, strong collaboration— which did not equate to passive agreement at all. The folks at MnDOT had their bureaucratic imperatives, and we understood that even as we pushed back on some of them. But they worked with us, they listened well, they advised, they yielded where they could, and the result is good. Congratulations to all.”
The Hwy 61 project has earned two awards: Winner of the Quality of Life/ Community Development Award from American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and honorable mention for Cole Value Awards from International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). AASHTO has selected the project for national recognition, which includes competition for Grand Prize and People’s Choice Award.
Duane Hill said the project is in the top 12 finalists in the 2022 America’s Transportation Awards competition. He asked members of the public to vote for the People’s Choice Award now through Oct. 21 at americastransportationawards.org. The winner gets a $10,000 cash award and Hill said if his team wins, the money will be put into the UMD Roberta Dwyer Civil Engineering Scholarship. Dwyer worked for MnDOT for 39 years and had many positions with MnDOT, the last as a Project Manager. Dwyer retired July 7, 2020 and one week later succumbed to cancer.
The link to vote specifically for the Grand Marais Highway 61 project can be found here: transportationawards.secure-platform.com/a/gallery/rounds/32/details/3621
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