Steve Niedenfuer, St. Joseph
There is a growing blight on our fair city – the traffic speed on CR 75. Those of you who have been here a long time probably remember when cars glided through at 45 mph, generating very little noise. There were no stoplights at all, just a flashing amber at the intersection of County Roads 2 and 75.
Safety: It has become increasingly difficult to cross 75 safely. The city is considering a pedestrian bridge over the highway. Whether on foot, on a bicycle or in a car, crossing or entering CR 75 is becoming risky.
Noise: There’s much more traffic than there used to be, but that doesn’t entirely account for the higher level of noise. One thing that does is very few drivers observe the speed limit, so traffic moves a lot faster than it used to – except when it’s slowing down. There are now five stoplights along that stretch of 75, and a great deal of the noise is caused by vehicles braking for or accelerating from those intersections.
Economics: How many businesses have failed along that corridor? Quite a few. The reason is obvious: nobody driving through St. Joseph on 75 wants to slow down, much less stop. The effect on downtown businesses is less obvious but just as negative.
I cover three counties in my line of work, and I’ve never seen another set-up like we have here. There are plenty of towns with heavily-used corridors like CR 75; they just don’t let the traffic travel as fast as we do. Luxemburg is an example. Heavily-traveled State Highway 15 runs through the town, but the speed limit, 35 mph, is adhered to almost without exception. That’s because every once in a while there’s a highway patrol or a county deputy with a radar gun checking speed. People learn quickly how fast they can drive without risking a ticket. St. Augusta is another example; so is CR 75 through St. Cloud – long stretches of 35 mph, mostly obeyed. Unfortunately, in St. Joseph, drivers know there’s very little chance of being stopped, even at 60 mph. And the few souls who try to observe the speed limit are likely to be tailgated mercilessly.
Rather than making our town an inviting place for passing motorists to visit, we have made it an obstacle course where speed is imperative and stopping out of the question. A driver entering St. Joseph on CR 75 knows there are five lights to get through, and they don’t spare the gas or brakes in running that gauntlet. As a result, we have a tremendous amount of noise, a real safety issue and a tough business environment.
The mayor and members of the city council could do something positive by lobbying the county to reduce the speed limit on CR 75 to 35 mph within the city limits. And they could instruct the police department to enforce it. Another option would be to install roundabouts in place of the stoplights. Other cities have done this to good effect. Roundabouts serve to slow traffic and even its flow. Sartell, a city with more than twice our area and population, has fewer stop lights – but lots of roundabouts.
If one or both of these steps were taken, it wouldn’t be long before our city would become safer, quieter, more pedestrian-friendly and better for business.