Residents Get Last Chance To Chime In On Woodbury Drive Project

Washington County officials say they understand the concerns residents have regarding the coming .

But at the same time, “we’ve never been able to do what we’re doing here,” said Wayne Sandberg, county engineer, who went on to cite the steps taken to satisfy those concerns while crafting a roadway that will serve the area decades into the future.

Safety and accessibility are key to the project, which has faced challenges due to the highway’s narrow right-of-way, he said.

An open house about the project was held at the clubhouse on Thursday, the last chance for residents to voice their thoughts about the project before the Woodbury City Council will be asked for its approval this May.

Plans call for County 19 to be expanded from two lanes to four from Park Crossing south to , as well as at the Lake Drive and Bailey Road intersections.

Construction on the project—estimated at about $10 million, with a quarter of that coming from the city—is set to begin next year.

Concerns over the project have included:

• the impacts on Antrim Road, where some say it will be difficult to make left turns;
• encroachment on private property;
• whether pedestrian paths are needed on both sides of the road;
• how well the roundabouts will function; and
• pedestrian safety in general.

But a Patch sampling of residents who attended Thursday’s open house found that many of those concerns have been allayed.

Deb Godbout, who lives off Antrim Road, said she has attended each of the public meetings about the project and has been told the roundabouts will create enough gaps in the project to make left turns there.

“I think they’re handling it well,” she said.

Depending on the time of day—and especially around Saint Ambrose and worship times—making a left at Antrim “can be an issue,” Godbout said.

She said the information provided by the county has been helpful and she was at the open house mostly out of curiosity.

Meanwhile, Mike Dillon, who lives north of the project area, said he uses the road often as a cyclist and when he heads to Resurrection Lutheran on Sundays.

“I like the project,” he said.

Dillon said he lived on the East Coast for three years and got used to roundabouts there.

“I think the roundabouts are very applicable,” he said. “They’re a much more efficient means of moving traffic. There are lots of stoplights (in Woodbury), we don’t need any more.”

Audrey Dums, whose home backs up to the highway, said she wanted to make sure a berm along the roadway remains in place. But pedestrian safety is also a big concern for her.

“That’s huge,” Dums said. “These are our kids that cross that road. … We need to protect our kids.”

Sandberg, the county traffic engineer, said the roundabouts will require pedestrians and bicyclists to cross fewer lanes, and they also reduce the chances of someone making a right turn and not seeing someone.

As for her skill in navigating roundabouts, Dums said heading through the existing one at Radio Drive and Bailey Road has helped.

On their way out of the meeting, Mary Jane and Jim Grausnick said the project looks good.

As for the roundabouts, Jim said: “People just need to remember the sign says ‘yield.’ You get used to them.”

Sandberg said Thursday’s meeting was helpful in that certain levels of detail about the project have been settled. There will be very little land acquisition associated with the roadwork, and keeping full access for Antrim Road has been achieved.

The county received an exemption from the state to narrow the widths of the lanes, and the boulevards will also be shrunk “to nestle the road in there,” Sandberg said.

As for the two paths along Woodbury Drive, Sandberg said, “It needs to be an accessible corridor for everyone—not just cars.”

“Then, you’d have to decide which side of the road to put it on,” he said. “And if people have to cross it to get to (the path), that’s not an accessible corridor from our perspective.”

There will be further public education regarding the roundabouts, which will likely include meetings, mailings and updates of the county’s Roundabout U website.

The aesthetics of the highway, along the road itself, will be improved, Sandberg said, and there are plans to plant trees on the banks of a pond near Edgewater Drive to reduce sound bouncing off the water and bothering surrounding homeowners.

County engineers are also working to utilize stormwater drainage in the area. They are working with Eagle Valley Golf Course to use the water for irrigation, which is also expected to help improve water quality at Colby Lake.

For more information about the expansion, visit a county webpage dedicated to the project.