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Give Morningside the green light – Our view: It’s too late to red light a sensible project

If you could stand at the intersection of Morningside Drive at Highway 212 and look to the north, you’d see a brand-new roadway all the way to Highway 7.
The only exception being the short span between the TC&W Railroad tracks and where East 16th Street becomes McLeod County Road 15.
Plans for opening up the stretch between the railroad crossing and the curve from where East 16th Street curves to the north-south and becomes County Road 15 are ready to go. The county is scheduled to open bids March 13. Assuming the bids are reasonable, the county board will presumably be asked to award the contract to the low responsible bidder March 17.
Assuming the bids are reasonable, the time has come to approve this project and put the hubbub to bed once and for all. This highway was initially envisioned back in the 1960s. The table is set to have Morningside Drive serve as a north-south route between highways 7 and 212 east of Silver Lake.
The proposal has been discussed and dissected for years. There is no reason to continue to run 4,000 cars a day through two 90-degree turns and stop signs at East 16th and East 10th or East 11th streets any longer. North-south traffic through the area will flow smoother with Morningside Drive opened and a crossing at the TC&W tracks. The engineering firm working on the project expected 4,000 vehicles used Morningside Drive each day in 2014. It expects 5,600 vehicles will use Morningside Drive each day by 2034.
If MnDOT eventually elects to reroute Highway 22 through Glencoe on County Road 3, opening the railroad crossing will become even more important.
Good roads move traffic safely and efficiently. We can’t imagine anyone rightfully arguing the status quo is as safe and efficient as the plan on the table.
While we respect their opinion and their sense of frugality, what sense would it make to pull the plug on the project now? The county has already spent $650,000 to raze and relocate the two houses on the south side of the TC&W tracks. Thousands of hours of consultants’ time studying and designing the project has already been paid for. Glencoe’s state lawmakers have worked to secure funding earmarked for the project, money the city says won’t be available if the project is nixed, even temporarily.
The funding the city and county have committed to the project is state money that would’ve been allocated to other road projects. City Administrator Mark Larson said last week no city street projects will be delayed by using state money allocated to Glencoe.
And if all that isn’t enough, TC&W and the county have finally reached an agreement for the railroad to pay $365,577 toward the crossing and the eastward extension of the side tracks.
We respectfully disagree with folks who oppose opening up the crossing at Morningside Drive. Too much has happened to shelve the project now. Yes, the plans today are three times the cost of the plans in 2010. The plans today include important elements like storm water ponds, wetland mitigation, lighting and pedestrian trails that were not included in the plans back in 2010.
Surprisingly high bids notwithstanding, the time to green light the extension of Morningside Drive has come.

-jm