Turning back the highway Consulting engineer Tim Houle answered questions from his audience Tuesday morning at a session on the old Highway 10 turnback project. Business owners attending the meeting were generally not in favor of a wider sidewalk that would allow added streetscaping possibilities in the commercial area of the old highway route (Second Avenue). The Staples City Council members will be discussing and deciding on the route's amenities at their June 23 meeting. (Staples World photo by Tom Crawford)

What should the finished street look like when old Highway 10 is refurbished through Staples?

"Function is more important than beauty," said Louie Ostrowski f rom the Auto Vaue Parts Store. "Make it work, then make it pretty."

Other downtown businesses along the former highway had voiced a very similar sentiment. Those attending a June 16 breakfast session at T Maxwell's mostly objected to a wide sidewalk and also a highly enhanced streetscaping with boulevards and cosmetic devices.

Tower Pizza owner Roger Houselog objected to the preliminary plans to widen the sidewalks from about seven feet, eight inches, to 12 feet wide in most of the commercial downtown. "My thinking is you are going at this wrong. You should start at the sidewalk first, then the parking, then the driving lane," he said.

Engineer Tim Houle had earlier explained they started at the middle of the 66 foot wide road, then worked to the property line. His drawings are for 11-foot driving lanes, nine foot, six-inch wide parking area and a 12 foot, six-inch sidewalk.

Houselog countered that he had spent the past three weeks studying the street issues and had surveyed other property owners along the city's Second Avenue. He maintained the plans for a nine foot, six inch parking lane were inadequate and urged a wider parking lane and reduced sidewalk. He noted vehicles will fit in the suggested width, but people would open doors into the driving lanes. He also pointed out in many vehicles, especially smaller ones, it is easier for passengers to step out onto the street than onto the sidewalk.

The idea of wider sidewalks was termed ludicrous by one of the people speaking.

Houselog said trucks making deliveries already had problems turning into alleys along Second Avenue. Wider sidewalks would make that even more difficult. "Trucks turning into the ally now come within inches of my building," he said. "You should have narrower sidewalks in the commercial area, and widen them in the residential."

The Tuesday morning breakfast session was planned by consulting engineers and the city after what they perceived to be poor attendance at two previous open house sessions that were held in the evenings. Only a smattering of property owners attended those previous sessions.

Wayne Mensen, owner of North Portage Embroidery, said he didn't want trees downtown, fearing they would eventually uproot sidewalks or foundations. Mensen and Marv Rothstein, from First International Bank and Trust, both said they agreed with Houselog.

Chad Longbella suggested a nine foot sidewalk would be a good compromise. A few moments later, Mensen suggested 11 foot driving lane, 11-foot parking lane and nine foot, six inch sidewalk.

Among the attendees were Mayor Chris Etzler and some of city council members. "We held two public hearings and we did not get this kind of feedback," Etzler said.

Numerous references were made at the session to similar streetscaping project at Aitkin and Perham, with Houle stating he was currently working with the downtown project in Brainerd, which has many of the features, such as tree plantings, decorative street lighting, colored pavement benches and trash receptacles located along the pedestrian walkways.

The Widseth Smith Nolting and SRF engineers have three suggested levels of street enhancements, from a basic level with just trees in grates added to the current streets. Two levels of enhanced streetscaping are being suggested, each at a higher cost.

"Where do we go from here?" Mary Stangle-Hess asked.

Engineer Houle and Mayor Etzler explained Houle had brought a similar set of questions to the city council on May 26, requesting decisions on street widths between curbs, the layout behind the curbs and the level of long-term streetscaping. The city council at that meeting chose to wait until hearing more from property owners on June 16.

"We had hoped to be further along at this point," Houle said. "We will take these comments today, get our planning team together, talk it over and it will be going to the city council."

Etzler, who said he would like the sidewalks as wide as possible, said the council will be discussing the road issues Tuesday, June 23.

While the entire length of Second Avenue is zoned commercial, some three or more blocks along the east side of town are residential. Houle and his planners had slightly different streetscaping plans on that stretch, where there is about a block of private retaining walls parallel to the street. Preliminary drawings have both rebuilt walls or street level landscaping as possibilities.

The project is called a turnback project as the state is turning the former highway to county control and Todd County will turn it over to the city when its finished. Property owners will be assessed for only service line replacements to both water and sewer lines on the underground portion of the project.

State and county turnback funds would pay for basic streetscaping costs, with special assessments and possibly city general funds being needed if the decision is made to go for the enhanced levels of street scaping.