While city officials are seeking community input on what should be done about Bridge Avenue, business leaders and homeowners who could be impacted if the street is widened and rerouted are speaking out.

With a public meeting scheduled this week to explain the options of whether to keep Bridge Avenue as a two-lane road or to develop it into a three-lane or four-lane road, the people who live or work near Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street say they are looking for answers to several questions that have not yet been answered.

Many of the business owners came together about a year ago to form the Albert Lea Northside Business Association in response to the project.

“I don’t think our group is necessarily opposed to seeing progress or seeing things that could improve Bridge Avenue, but there are a lot of questions that are unanswered,” said Tim Lenhart, president of Security Bank in Albert Lea, which is on the corner of Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street. “We’d hate to see this project get down the road without these answers.”

The history of the controversy

In 2004, Albert Lea and Freeborn County officials started to get together to talk about what should happen with the corridor. The street is a county highway that runs through the city limits. It is Freeborn County Road 22 up to Marshall Street, where County 22 then uses Marshall to connect to Main Street, which is also U.S. Highway 65. That means both the city and the county have a role in its renovations of the Bridge Avenue corridor.

Bridge Avenue presently is a two-lane roadway with turn lanes at some key intersections, and current traffic volumes on the street are approaching or at capacity levels for a two-lane roadway.

Thus, city and county leaders have discussed what should be done to address those concerns.

A few public meetings were held to seek input about the issue concerning what sort of usage and outlook community members had for the corridor, and a study was conducted by SRF Consulting Group to determine what should be done. The study’s results came out in November 2005.

The project has kind of sat on the shelf until recently when city and county leaders had a meeting to discuss the different design options for the road and whether to pursue funding opportunities on the state and federal level.

What do the business owners think about the project?

Now that the project is back in the forefront, Lenhart said there are questions about how the cost of the project will affect the taxpayers and about what the exact cost will even be.

“It’s one of those things that people need to know before we get too far into the project,” he said.

Bridge Avenue Corridor public meeting

What: Albert Lea and Freeborn County will put on a public informational meeting, with officials from SRF Consulting Group on hand to give an update on the Bridge Avenue Corridor plan

When: 7 p.m. Jan. 8

Where: Albert Lea City Council Chambers

Info: Call Albert Lea City Engineer Steven Jahnke at 377-4325 or Freeborn County Engineer Sue Miller at 377-5188 for questions.

He explained that many of the business owners are also concerned about how the project will affect the accessibility to their businesses.

Several other members of the business association said they think there will be a loss of foot traffic during construction, if the project goes through.

Ron Freeman, owner of Fountain Warehouse Liquor, said he questions how much a four-lane road would even be needed.

Though an out-of-town, independent firm was hired to do the traffic study on the road and project where things are going to be in 20 or 30 years, that doesn’t necessarily correlate to Albert Lea needs and growth, Freeman said.

He said the traffic delays on Bridge Avenue are only at two times a day, before school in the morning and after school in the afternoon. Better synchronized stoplights could help with this flow, he said.

“We’re proposing a $20 to $30 million project based on a couple hours a day maximum that there’s any congestion or an issues to be dealt with,” Freeman said.

“It’s not the end of the world to have a busy street,” Lenhart added.

Steve Tubbs, owner of Lakeside Cafe & Creamery said he thinks the study that was conducted is “all about moving a car from here to there without consideration for the people in those cars.”

Lenhart said he’s done a quick call and came up with 20 businesses that would be affected in one way or another by construction. All have shown some level of concern.

“A lot of these concerns can be dealt with,” Tubbs said. “But we need to know how that’s going to work and be involved with the process so it does work with us.”

Bob Haukoos, former Albert Lea mayor and owner of several buildings along Bridge Avenue and Marshall Street talked of Albert Lea’s population and the declining enrollment in its school. Albert Lea’s population has declined since 1970.

These are factors that need to be remembered too, he said.

Freeman said he is fine with the fact that the city manager and the engineers in both the city and county are at the point where they need some direction for the project.

“But we as citizens and businesses want to communicate with our county commissioners and city councilors now to not get this thing down the road before it’s too late,” he said.

The business owners said they would have to move if the project comes to fruition because they would not be able to survive.

“It’d be a shame for those businesses not to survive after everything they’ve done,” said Phyllis Monson, CEO of Security Bank. “It’s a beautiful part of town.”

Members of the group said that instead of spending $20 or $30 million on a major overhaul, they should just make some minor improvements that could have big impacts. Some more minor improvements include adding turning lanes and maybe closing off some of the access points along the street.

They encouraged people to speak out to their councilors and commissioners and let their opinions be known.

What do the homeowners think about the project?

The homeowners the Tribune interviewed shared many similar thoughts as the business owners in regard to the Bridge Avenue corridor.

Paul DeBoer, who lives on Marshall Street, which would also be affected if the project comes to fruition, said he’s walked up and down Bridge Avenue from Marshall Street to the Freeborn County Fairgrounds and talked to homeowners about it. Most were against it, except for a few rental properties.

In the last few weeks, he said, he’s talked to at least 150 people, including 10 to 15 businesses, and the overwhelming majority is not in favor.

“I don’t understand why this is happening at this time with the economy,” DeBoer said.

The project would knock out 32 properties if it happens, he said, his own home included.

“We’re very happy here with how it’s fixed up,” he said.

All of the properties and businesses are full except for one, he noted.

“We’re happy here at Northside,” DeBoer said. “That’s more than they can say about other ends of town.”

DeBoer, who has lived in his home since 1979, said years ago, high traffic went to Skyline Plaza. Then it went to Northbridge Mall. Now it’s going east.

He questions what the next 20 years would bring.

He talked of higher taxes and foreclosures, along with declining enrollment at the high school. All of these factors play into it too, he said.

He said he thinks many of the problems on Bridge Avenue could be solved by making a left turning lane on Hawthorne and by implementing a few other minor changes.

In his opinion, DeBoer said, he thinks the issue should come down to a community vote.

“I hope everybody comes to the meeting Thursday night,” DeBoer said. “It’s an important meeting for the town of Albert Lea.”

Nancy Sickels, who has lived in her house on Bridge Avenue for 34 years, said she’s upset she keeps hearing a different story from each person in authority she goes to when she asks about the project.

“I’ve been fighting with these people for two years about what’s going to happen — what’s our options,” she said.

She has four grown kids, who have many memories at the old house.

“I don’t want to move,” she said. “I got a big house knowing I wanted a family. Selfishly, I just don’t want to leave. I don’t want to pack up.”

But on top of this, Sickels said, she just doesn’t think an expansion would be necessary.

She said she never has had a problem getting out of her driveway — people are nice enough to let her in — and besides the school rush on the street isn’t really that busy.

She noted that she thinks several minor changes could be implemented that would have effects and not be as costly.

“We’re not growing, so to me it’s just not smart to put a lot of money into a street that’s not going to be used very much,” Sickels said. “They could do something else that’s cheaper.”

The question of whether there’s going to be an expansion on the street is also affecting whether she does any work on the house.

“You just never know what to do,” she said. “If you talk to the county people and the city people they give you a different answer.”

She also encouraged people to let their opinions be heard.