A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
The Thomson Township Board of Supervisors voted to sign a letter of support for Carlton County’s planned reconstruction project for County State Aid Highway 61 at its meeting on April 7.
Following a presentation by county engineer JinYeene Neumann and discussion with a concerned resident of the township, the board offered the support so the county can begin applying for a grant to help fund the project, set for construction in 2025.
The reconstruction project would be from Highway 45 to Highway 35, reducing the four-lane roadway to two lanes with a recreational trail.
“The country receives $3.5 million dollars in CSAH construction money every year and it doesn’t stretch very far,” Neumann said. “What we’re looking at is to get some additional funding for this roadway because it’s falling apart pretty fast.”
No official planning has been done for the project, leaving some members of the community feeling uneasy about supporting it at this stage. Neumann said the county has to start applying now for grants that will be paid out in 2025. The township’s support of the project at this stage will open the door for more funding so that the project can be planned with the input of the community without raising taxes, she said.
Township resident Frank Liupakka echoed some of the concerns from board members about the potential safety problems with the project and the logistics of converting it from four lanes to two.
“That’s the big thing. We all have safety concerns,” Liupakka said. “And that’s a big problem, with this school bus traffic and loading and unloading of children and teachers and student car traffic at the school.”
Neumann said many of the questions about safety can’t be answered yet but public input sessions will be held once planning begins and the community will be able to make sure their concerns are heard.
Neumann said traffic counts have been done on the road in past years and the amount of traffic does not warrant four lanes or the price tag that comes with maintaining them. Another traffic count is set to be done this year and the school has offered the data from the radar speed sign near the school to see how many cars pass each day and the speed at which they are traveling.
In other business:
The board voted to hire a firm to do an overview of ambulance coverage in the township. With the data received, the township expects to be able to compare the costs of remaining in the primary service area of the Cloquet Area Fire District or consider changing the service area.
The annual Drug Take Back Day is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 30 at the town hall. The sheriff’s office asks that anyone with unneeded medications turn them in for safe disposal. There will be multiple drop-off locations throughout Carlton County. The sheriff’s office also reported that deputy Randy Roberts is hoping to return to the township, following a surgery, sometime in May.
