by Dennis Dalman
Once again, a roundabout – a five-legged one this time – has been approved by the Sartell City Council as a solution for the traffic mess in the area of LeSauk Drive, CR 1 (Riverside Avenue S.), Heritage Drive and Hwy. 15.
That area has long been considered a safety hazard. During busy times, there are long back-ups of traffic, visibility problems and a virtual impossibility to make left turns from LeSauk Drive onto CR 1. Right across Hwy. 15 from that area is Epic Center, where Walmart, Sam’s Club and other retail businesses are located. Also nearby, to the west, is Sartell’s very busy medical campus. Residential neighborhoods are also in part of that region, such as along Heritage Drive.
A four-legged roundabout, which was part of a solution proposed in a previous study, would not allow for motorists coming off LeSauk Drive to take a left northbound onto CR 1.
At a public hearing at the last city council meeting, a half dozen businessmen and a few residents in that area said if the city decided on anything less than a five-legged roundabout, they would definitely lose a serious number of customers because of ingress and egress hassles, causing customers to just go somewhere else instead.
The owners of G-Allen’s restaurant and Granite City Tire and Auto said their businesses depend very much upon customers who live in Sartell. If they keep having hassles trying to get to and from that area, they will stop coming, the two men said.
A resident who lives along Heritage Drive and another on CR 1 told the council the traffic on those roads has become so bad there is a constant worry about safety, including for pedestrians and bicyclists, especially when motorists use neighborhood streets to get back to Sartell.
“A lot of the people going through there are crazy, really crazy,” said a resident, who enjoys bicycling and who said he has had several close calls because of the traffic and “crazy” drivers.
Another woman, her wrists encased in black casts, told the council both wrists were broken at the roundabout on Heritage Drive.
“You can get hurt really easy,” she said. “It’s scary.”
A resident on Heritage Drive said there is so much traffic on that road it takes him 15 to 20 minutes waiting for a traffic gap so he can get out of his driveway to turn left on Heritage to get to CR 1.
There were also concerns expressed that anything other than a five-legged roundabout would have an escalating effect, causing even more motorists to keep choosing routes north-northwest back to Sartell through neighborhood streets in that area, thus causing even more safety concerns.
A five-legged roundabout will cost about $3.6 million. A four-legged one is estimated at about $2 million.
The council appeared convinced by the public testimony and because of their own driving experiences in that area. Council member Steve Hennes said a five-legged roundabout is the “only” option for that area. Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll agreed, as did David Peterson who said anything less than a five-legged roundabout would be bad for residents, bad for business and bad for the potential for future developments.
He called a five-legged roundabout the only way to go.
“It might cost more, but in the long run it will be worth it,” he said, adding it would cost a lot more money in the future unless the five-legged option is not done soon.
Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni said the project could be paid for by a combination of half-cent sales-tax revenue, bonding and the healthy amount of street funds in the city coffers, although the council might decide to place the roundabout construction in front of something else on the road-project priorities list.
That high-volume traffic area is also under consideration by the St. Cloud Area Planning Organization, Stearns County and MnDOT for future changes and improvements.
The traffic proposals for that area have been a top priority subject since a May 18 hearing and a public hearing working session just last month.