The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is concerned about safety along Highway 61, and toward that end, it is planning to install street lights where the road intersects the Sawbill Trail, the Lutsen Ski Hill Road, and the west end of County Road 7.
District Traffic Engineer Rob Ege attended the February 8 county board meeting to find out what the Cook County commissioners thought about the plan. The costs would be fairly low, he said, with MnDOT paying to install the lights and hoping Cook County would pick up the tab for the monthly electric bill, expected to be $15-20, and for replacing the bulbs as needed every three or four years. “We see a very positive cost-benefit ratio to installing these lights,” he said.
The lights, to be located in the northwest corner of each intersection, would point downward in order to avoid lighting up the night sky.
The Tofte town board is in favor of a light at the Sawbill Trail intersection, Commissioner Bruce Martinson said. He wasn’t sure what the Lutsen town board would have to say about having one at the bottom of the Ski Hill Road and wanted to postpone endorsing the plan until he could bring it up at the next Lutsen town board meeting a week later.
Commissioner Jim Johnson also said he wanted to be sensitive to any concerns residents might have about the lights. MnDOT would not push the issue if the county opposed the lights, Ege said.
County Road 7 and the Sawbill are hard to locate at night, Commissioner Fritz Sobanja said. Safety becomes an issue in these spots, he said, especially in snowy or icy conditions when people slow down as they try to find their turnoffs. Safety, cost, and the overall benefit to the public need to be weighed, he said. Avoiding even one accident could save lives and would save the money that would be expended for law enforcement and emergency personnel. He said the idea to light these intersections was brought up a couple of years ago, leaving the public plenty of time to give their input.
A motion to approve MnDOT’s plan passed by a vote of three to one, with Commissioner Martinson voting nay out of respect for the Lutsen town board and Commissioner Jan Hall absent because her car wouldn’t start in the cold.
“This is not the beginning of a Highway Department lighting program,” Highway Engineer David Betts assured those in attendance.
MnDOT is installing two lights along Highway 61 in Lake County as well. Slow section shortened on Gunflint Trail
The section of road in the mid-Gunflint Trail area that has had a 40 mph speed limit is going to be shortened, David Betts reported. “I always thought the 40 was too far…further than it should be,” he said. Salt hard to get
With a winter that’s had a lot of snowstorms, salt is becoming hard to get a hold of in Minnesota and other states, Highway Maintenance Supervisor Russell Klegstad reported, although he added, “We’re doing okay with our salt/sand right now. … Counties are kind of fighting for salt….”
The department bought another 75 tons of salt and another 650 yards of sand in order to make it through the season. Lake County has more sand for Cook County if we need it, but if Cook County doesn’t get the salt that is available now, it might not be available for late-season snowstorms that could hit.
The current supply of salt was purchased from the 2010 budget, Betts said. Money is available from this year’s budget for more salt, but if they go through it all this winter, they will be short money budgeted for next winter. The commissioners agreed that buying more salt as needed while it is available would be a good idea.
The Highway Department has been winging back snow from the sides of roads, clearing snow from around mailboxes, and trying to increase visibility at pullouts from roads and driveways. Crew working hard
Commissioner
Johnson said he has been hearing compliments on the work of the Highway Department, which is doing a lot with limited crew and equipment. “I can’t think how you could do it any better myself,” he said. “My compliments to the crew.”
“Ditto,” said Commissioner Sue Hakes.
They’ve been working hard, Betts said, and have given up a lot of weekends.
Since the number of snowfalls varies from year to year, Klegstad said, he budgets snowplowing overtime by looking at a 10-year average. Snowfalls this year seem to be taking place mostly on weekends. “I guess I can’t help when it snows,” he said.
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