Signals win the day on Hwy. 33

Roundabouts are off the table, state officials told residents at a May 9 informational meeting on the proposed reconstruction of Minnesota Highway 33.

The estimated $3.2 million project will include complete reconstruction of the four-lane highway from Big Lake Road to the north side of the St. Louis River Bridge. Replacement of the intersections at Carlton Avenue and Cloquet Avenue with enhanced signal lights was revealed Thursday as the recommended "preferred concept," said Angie Bolstad, project manager for the Stantec design firm. Roundabouts are not being recommended, she said.

The applause wasn't immediate, but the crowd of fewer than 20 residents mostly approved (some enthusiastically). Many of the objections and observations offered at a February meeting in Cloquet had been used to inform the plans discussed last week.

"I'm satisfied with the preferred options," said Bert Whittington, who owns the NorthEastern Hotel & Saloon on Dunlap Island. "It provides accessibility to the West End and the island. A roundabout would have been extremely rough on people trying to walk across Cloquet Avenue."

Studies showed some difference in traffic and potential crash results between signal lights and roundabouts, but the Highway 33 intersections in Cloquet were very close in terms of technical considerations.

"We look at how intersections function from a safety standpoint. Fortunately, these intersections have not had significant safety issues," said MnDOT traffic engineer James Miles.

Public input mattered, said Stantec senior project manager Pat McGraw.

"Folks coming out and voicing where your discomforts are ... definitely had a part in that equation," he said.

Stantec conducted the analysis that first brought up the possibility of roundabouts.

The fact that a roundabout at Carlton Avenue would also cost about $800,000 more than a signal upgrade may also have been a factor, along with the steep grade of the Carlton Avenue hill east of Highway 33.

Officials don't expect construction to impact Pinehurst, Veterans or Fauley parks, or the Lindholm gas station, still the world's only working gas station designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Environmental impacts are unknown, because officials don't know what they will find when they dig up the road bed.

Signals will also take less time to construct, since they will largely occupy the same footprint. They aren't cheap - costs range from $600,000 to $900,00 - but they should be safer.

"This is a 30-year investment, so we want to make sure we're doing the right thing for the time period," Miles said, explaining why MnDOT did so much research to arrive at a similar - although new and improved - solution.

More feedback

Audience members were not afraid to push back on the various engineers and project managers standing around the room.

After Bolstad said plans call for removal of the channelized right-turn lane off northbound Highway 33 to make it safer for pedestrians, resident Jane Oswold pointed out that pedestrians use the sidewalk on the north side of Carlton Avenue.

"When people can just peel off the main line, at typically a higher speed, it's just less safe for a pedestrian crossing if they were to be hit," Bolstad said.

Instead of the current one-lane right-turn channel cutting up and across the hill, the prospective design proposed a smaller right-hand turn at the intersection with Carlton Avenue, at the base of the hill.

"The kids all cross on the other side ... when they're going down to the pool or the skating rink," said Oswold. "They really don't use that side."

MnDOT officials plan to add sidewalks to both sides of Highway 33, which currently has sidewalks on the west side heading north from Pinehurst Park. MnDOT project manager Josie Olson pointed out that a right turn channel would also affect any new sidewalk on the east side of the highway.

Other residents worried about getting up the Carlton Avenue hill in the winter if the right turn lane were removed, because the hill can get slick during and after winter weather.

Oswold said eliminating the existing right-turn channel would cause traffic to back up more than it does now on Highway 33.

"If you block what exists now - and I see a lot of people going up that way - the right turn is going to be much sharper," Oswold said. "I prefer to keep going up the way it's going now."

Olson also encouraged attendees to provide feedback in writing, so MnDOT has more information as it works through all the details.

Cloquet public works director Caleb Peterson said MnDOT officials have been great about listening to the city's concerns. Years ago, he said, the proposal was simply for a mill and overlay, or simple resurfacing of Highway 33.

"We wanted to look at the motorized and non-motorized uses," Peterson said. "And they've really stepped up and been willing to have these discussions."

The project has grown "exponentially since then," Peterson said.

"We're nowhere near done," he said. "We've got probably another two years of coordination and design work before we've got a pretty much finalized plan."

Cloquet Avenue

At Cloquet Avenue, plans show a channelized right turn lane from southbound Highway 33 - similar to what exists now - which allows semis and logging trucks to turn off Highway 33 to Broadway Avenue and on from there to USG, Upper Lakes Food and Sappi. That was a change from the February meeting, when a dedicated right turn lane had been proposed instead of the current channel.

Although large roundabouts are no longer on the table, a smaller roundabout could be constructed where Broadway intersects with Cloquet Avenue, Broadway and Avenue D, a mildly confusing intersection that involved two stop signs and two yield signs.

Other users

Officials also assured residents that the highway project will also include safe pathways for pedestrians, bicycle and ATV- and snowmobile riders.

"There needs to be not only a dedicated snowmobile and ATV trail, but bike trail and walking trail along Highway 33 from Pinehurst Park on down," Whittington said.

MnDOT officials said details of a new trail next to the roadway will come in the preliminary design phase in 2025. Olson indicated the trail likely would run up the west side of Highway 33, where there are already existing trails leading from Dunlap Island and the West End along the edge of Pinehurst Park. The tricky part will be the roadway between Pinehurst Park and Big Lake Road, where trees and a steep incline leave little shoulder space. Options discussed include shifting the roadway east slightly, narrowing the center median and/or building a retaining wall on the hill.

When the meeting moved from a group presentation to one-on-one discussions, Stantec's McGraw listened and watched as Eric Senarighi, president of the Carlton County Riders club, drew a dotted line showing the current ATV and snowmobile route from Dunlap Island to Pinehurst Park on a giant tabletop map, there to be written on.

"We want to be recognized as a user group of these intersections. We weren't the first time," Senarighi said, referring to the February meeting. He said a small roundabout at Broadway Avenue could interfere with the current ATV path, which the city has marked on the roadway.

Getting already existing trails to connect is key, in a safe manner, he said.

"We're trying to connect by the Armory down along the frontage road and all the way back to the casino," he said.

Senarighi said a roundabout would have been a problem for ATVs and snowmobiles, because the traffic is continuous versus a streetlight, which creates a gap in traffic.

"If everybody's moving, it's like playing Frogger," Senarighi said of anyone waiting to cross the roadway coming off the roundabout.

The effect continues farther down the highway as well.

"Stop lights allow a break in traffic for the people that are pulling out in random little tiny intersections all the way up and down through 33. It gives them a break to be able to get out. When you have a constant flow of traffic, you don't have that break."

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For your Information

Listen to a narrated presentation or see display boards from last week’s meeting at https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/hwy-33-cloquet.

Share your thoughts with MnDOT about the Highway 33 intersections at Carlton and Cloquet avenues until May 24, by emailing [email protected] or [email protected]. Phone calls are good, too. Contact Olson at 218-221-6209 or Bolstad at 612-712-2019. People can also send written comments on self-addressed tri-fold forms available at the Pine Knot News office at 122 Ave. C, Cloquet.