Star Tribune
Minneapolis businesses, residents at 42nd and Cedar want their on-street parking back
The newly reconstructed intersection of 42nd Street and Cedar Avenue S. is getting a big thumbs-down from nearby business owners and residents.
Hennepin County closed the south Minneapolis intersection in May to install new pavement, left-turn lanes, sidewalks and traffic signals with audio cues. When the intersection reopened in early June, about 60 on-street parking spaces in the vicinity had disappeared.
“They took it all,” said Jim Landvick, who runs the Cedar Inn Bar & Grill. “My customers are complaining. It’s going to destroy my business.”
Before the redo, both streets had one travel lane in each direction with curbside parking up to the corner. The tight intersection made it challenging for drivers making left turns and was crash-prone, with 88 mishaps between 2006 and 2015, said Tom Musick, coordinator of the county’s Transportation Safety Program.
The county secured a federal grant in 2018 to address safety issues, and since 2020 conducted public engagement sessions, a virtual open house and a community survey to get the word out, Musick said.
But with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, the message apparently didn’t get to everybody.
“We may not have connected with everyone. We need to improve on that,” Musick said.
Julia Hatlestad, who runs a furniture store called Groovy’s, said she only learned of the project this spring when she got a letter.
“We were blindsided,” she said. “Nowhere did they say parking would be affected.”
Hatlestad said about 70% of her customers park on the street. Now, with no place to park or stop to load furniture, she fears customers will take their business elsewhere. Foot traffic is already down, she said.
“They never took that into account,” she said. “We won’t make it without parking.”
Residents have not been thrilled, either.
“I want to shop there. I want to give the small businesses my money,” resident Beverly Gores said. “Instead, I had to drive home and eat carrots that were in my refrigerator for lunch. I’m not walking, at 66 years old, three blocks for a taco.”
The new left-turn lanes extend about halfway down the block and seem longer than they need to be, Hatlestad said. Shortening them could bring back some of the lost parking, she said.
Musick said the county has gotten feedback since the intersection reopened and is working in concert with Minneapolis Public Works to evaluate potential adjustments to the lane configurations.
“We have to balance a number of factors, and at the end of the day the safety of all road users will take priority,” he said.
Landvick said he hopes something is done fast. The situation is so desperate that he joked he may have to use a golf cart to provide a shuttle “because nobody is going to walk three-fourths of a block to get a beer.”
The medical center is owned by a local nonprofit, but operated by Duluth-based Essentia under an affiliation agreement that dates back to 2009.
With the ruling announced Wednesday, Essentia Health says it will continue to operate the hospital, clinic, assisted-living and long-term care facilities in Fosston, plus clinics in Bagley and Oklee.
“Now that the arbitration process is over, Essentia is focused on the opportunity to engage our patients, colleagues and the community in building a shared vision for the future of health care in Fosston,” said Dr. Stefanie Gefroh, interim president of Essentia Health’s West Market, in a statement.
Arbitrators were asked to rule on whether Essentia eliminated a “core” service by discontinuing deliveries, since the city of Fosston would then have the right to terminate the affiliation agreement. But the panel in a 2-1 vote concluded that labor and delivery is just one aspect of obstetrics (OB).
“OB is a ‘core’ service under the agreement, encompassing labor and delivery as part of comprehensive care for pregnant women,” the ruling states. “Simply put, while the delivery of the baby is an essential component, it is not the sole care provided to a pregnant woman.”
Fosston officials, including the town’s mayor, were involved in the arbitration because the city has a legal connection to the nonprofit owner of the medical center, which historically was a municipal hospital.
Star Tribune
Judge gives driver year in jail for being drunk, fatally hitting man in Minnesota street
A driver was given a year in jail Wednesday for being drunk when he fatally hit a man in the street near St. Cloud.
Tyler J. Nies, 26, of Sartell, Minn., was sentenced in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 11 p.m. on July 28 in Sauk Rapids near the intersection of N. Benton Drive and N. 8th Street that killed Kevin D. Oehmen, 47, of Sauk Rapids.
Judge Robert Raupp opted for the year in jail while setting aside a 5¾-year term. Raupp also ordered Nies to serve 10 years’ probation, perform 80 hours of community work service, complete a chemical assessment attend a victim impact panel, abstain from mood-altering chemicals and stay away from bars.
According to the criminal complaint:
An officer at the scene noticed that Nies smelled of alcohol. Nies initially said he had one beer before driving his pickup. A preliminary breath test by the officer measured Nies’ blood alcohol content at 0.129%, more than 1 1⁄2 times the legal limit in Minnesota.
Upon further questioning, Nies said that before driving he drank three beers, which were about 16 ounces each.
Nies told police he was heading north on Benton Drive in the right-hand lane and suddenly saw a man walking in the grassy area next to the curb “like he was going to cross the road,” the complaint read. Police Chief Perry Beise added that Oehmen was on a street with no marked crosswalk.
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