The Crookston City Council was first approached on October 12, 2020 (here) about a joint powers agreement to conduct a corridor study of downtown Crookston, and a possible project at the conclusion of the study. The City Council will possibly be making a decision on whether to proceed with the study at its March 22 meeting.
A decision on whether to proceed has yet to happen in part because the City Council has wanted staff to consider if any city blocks downtown should be included and if so, which ones. City Administrator Amy Finch said a recommendation on which city blocks to include will be made on the 22nd. “We have worked internally and will have a recommendation for the City Council at the March 22 meeting,” said Finch. “In the end, it will be up to the Council to decide if and how many city blocks to include. There was a discussion about doing some of the streets in between Broadway and Main. And some discussion on the leg of S Main and S Broadway that connects down to the bridges. We’ve got some recommendations they will see on the 22nd to try to nail that down a little bit.”
MnDOT would pay for the 14 blocks along Highway 2, and if the City Council wished to include any additional city blocks, those would be paid by the city explained Finch. “Should the City Council agree to enter into the joint powers agreement, part of that is accepting MnDOT’s $100,000 for consulting fees,” said Finch. “That price is estimated to cover MnDOT’s 14 city blocks. The city would pay their pro-rata share for any city blocks added. So, for example, if MnDOT only had 10 blocks and consulting fees were estimated to cost $100,000 and the city was to add five city blocks were could safely estimate the city’s share could be $50,000 for those five if it was half of what MnDOT’s blocks would cost. The only way to find that final amount is to go out to bid and get those back.”
MnDOT has set aside more than $5 million for the reconstruction of the blocks along Highway 2 downtown, however, whether the project happens would be up to the City Council following the completion of the study. “I believe MnDOT has a little bit more than $5 million programmed for the City of Crookston should the City Council wish to move forward with the joint powers agreement,” said Finch. “The estimated costs that we’ve seen are more about the project. What we’re talking about now is the study that gets to that point. The study will help develop three alternatives for the city to consider if they choose any or none of those to go forward. What MnDOT is asking for now is the joint powers agreement which commits the city to accept the $100,000 of funding for the 14 MnDOT blocks, and carrying out the scope of work that gets us through the development of three alternatives but not through the plan and design stages.”
There are some costs built into a possible reconstruction project, such as replacement of the signal lights, which will need to occur in the near future regardless of whether the city proceeds with the study, or with a project. “The way I understand it is regardless of whether this project goes forward or not, the signal replacement would still be forthcoming in upcoming years,” said Finch. “I’m not sure, because I haven’t discussed it outside the project, what that cost-share would look like. But regardless of this project as it’s proposed with the sidewalks and doing the traffic study, the signal replacements would still be required in a few years.”
MnDOT’s cost estimates include $687,500 for signal replacement from the state, with $562,500 paid for by the City of Crookston on the project. The project cost estimates also include the replacement of 101 street lights along the Highway 2 corridor, which MnDOT would cost an estimated $325,000 with MnDOT paying 50 percent. MnDOT’s estimates could be affected up or down if a project were completed based on the alternative chosen by the City Council if one is chosen at all.
Additionally, if progressing with a project, the City of Crookston would solely bear the cost outside of the 14 blocks identified in the Highway 2 corridor by MnDOT. “Absolutely, that also impacts what city blocks are included outside of the MnDOT blocks,” said Finch. “That will certainly increase the cost. As we’ve discussed at prior meetings, any cost of the project on local city blocks would be borne by the city entirely. That will be another consideration. The study will help develop alternatives. If those alternatives come out and the city portion or (additional) city blocks were a large amount of money, we still have that information to decide if they want to go forth, how we would finance it, or if it’s something that we’d want to phase in as projects over a few years.”
Finch also noted that a part of the scope of work for the study is to convene community meetings and engagement if the City Council chooses to proceed. “On the 22nd, we will see another map with a recommendation,” said Finch. “We hope to clear up some questions that were asked when we looked at it before. MnDOT is asking the City Council if they’re comfortable with the draft scope of work. That scope of work includes the community engagement piece. There will be planned meetings, a community group that will be engaged and active throughout the entire process. We will be seeing some more information and could possibly have a determination at that point (on the study) or at least some more discussion at the City Council level.”
