In a 5 to 1 vote, Northfield Council approved plans and specs for the downtown street projects. The projects include a complete reconstruction of Division Street between 6th and 8th streets with special attention to a raised intersection at 7th st. 7th street between Washington and Water, mill and overlay of Washington Street from 2nd all the way to Woodley. Additionally, they’ll repave municipal parking lots. Engineering Manager Sean Simonson explained some of the Washington project, saying,”improvements on this project will include minor stormsewer relocations, manhole replacements, of course the street will have a 2 inch mill and overlay, spot curb and gutter
repairs and also be pedestrian upgrades” including 26 ft. bumpouts at all the intersections except 6th St. Along with the work will be a reduction of some parking spaces. Right now, the design calls for 99 spaces, removing about 13 spots. What won’t be happening are all-way stops at both Division and 6th and 7th Sts. A traffic study showed that there is just not enough traffic to warrant stop signs in all 4 directions. They also looked at Washington, Simonson added, “Washington and 5th will become an all-way stop, Washington and 4th will be converted to a minor stop (2-way on 4th) and the Division and 7th and Division and 6th will stay as is”. Councilor DeLong brought up several questions and ultimately voted against the $4.6 million project. With the approval, Simonson said bid opening will take place April 5th, Council will award bids on April 17th and construction will begin in May. The good news is they won’t be working on both Division and Washington at the same time. Division Street work will take place first but, due to the businesses in the area, they will work in phases. The road will be closed but open to local traffic, “we’ll try to maintain traffic and access to businesses at all times if possible”. Water Street will be the main north/south detour. There will also be more traffic congestion coming due to the Co. Rd. 1 reconstruction as well. Project updates will be posted on the City’s website throughout the projects. This LINK takes you to design information, funding and more.
Township Election info
Township Elections are March 13th. There are 5 area Townships including Erin, Bridgewater, Greenvale, Wheatland and Northfield that have more than one candidate. Check out kymn.net for all the local Township elections and candidates and links to further information. Bridgewater is holding a Candidate forum with Glen Castore and Rebecca Grundhoefer tonight at 7:30 at their Town Hall. 2018 Township candidates (1)
NAUW seeks volunteers
Northfield Area United Way is looking for community volunteers to serve on its grant allocation panels this spring. Panelists will review the grant applications in one of the three main areas of the United Way’s focus: education, health, or financial stability/basic needs. For complete information go to kymn.net.
Mayor For a Day essay contest
Northfield 4th and 5th grade students! The City of Northfield invites you to participate in the 2018 Mayor for a Day Essay Contest. Winners will be announced and awarded by the Mayor at the annual State of the City event on March 19th at the Weitz Center in their new Performing Arts Center. Details are on kymn.net. The top three winning entries are eligible for a prize. The deadline to submit an essay is Monday, March 12th. 2018 City of Northfield Mayor For Day Contest
