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Flood mitigation, safety top concerns at Pleasant Ridge Road planning meeting

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A March 23 meeting at the Marquette Community Center gathered public input that will help the city of Marquette and Clayton County Secondary Roads plan for the reconstruction of Pleasant Ridge Road from Marquette to the top of the hill. Clayton County Engineer Rafe Koopman, who led the meeting, said his goal is to make that stretch of road safer, while the city hopes to reduce flooding in its Twin Bluffs neighborhood.

Clayton County Engineer Rafe Koopman stressed the meeting was just the beginning of the project. It could be five to 10 years before any road reconstruction or flood mitigation efforts take place.

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

 

A March 23 meeting at the Marquette Community Center gathered public input that will help the city of Marquette and Clayton County Secondary Roads plan for the reconstruction of Pleasant Ridge Road from Marquette to the top of the hill. Clayton County Engineer Rafe Koopman, who led the meeting, said his goal is to make that stretch of road safer, while the city hopes to reduce flooding in its Twin Bluffs neighborhood.

 

“Whether the two things can work together or not, I don’t know,” he said. “That’s why I wanted to have this meeting. You people live along the roadway, you use the roadway. I want an idea of what you’d like to see.”

 

Koopman estimated fewer than 1,000 vehicles travel on Pleasant Ridge Road daily, but that number could be higher closer to Marquette. Traffic has already grown with the addition of the Timber Ridge Subdivision, and will continue to increase as more lots are developed.

 

“We started out with 69 lots and there’s roughly 20 homes up there, so another 40 lots available,” according to developer Robyn Denning. “Phase two, a little west of there, is a potential for another 20 to 25 lots.”

 

Pleasant Ridge Road, or B45, also sees tourist traffic, as drivers stray from the industrial corridor of Highway 18 to a more scenic route.

 

“When people are leaf looking in the fall, a lot of people drive up that highway because it’s different than going up 18. They see some of the smaller, traditional farms on B45,” one meeting attendee added.

 

Koopman said both the Pleasant Ridge Road pavement and guardrails from Marquette city limits to the top of the hill are currently in poor condition. In fact, the guardrail is the most repaired in Clayton County.

 

“I would like to reduce the number of opportunities people have to run into the guardrail. My goals are to make the road safer and re-do the surface,” he noted.

 

Suggestions included widening the shoulders and moving the guardrail away from the edge of the road. If someone had car problems, there would be enough room to park off, instead of within, the travelled roadway. Yet, there would still be guardrail for protection, said Koopman.

 

The tighter corridor makes that challenging, however.

 

“Do you like the narrow corridor where trees are next to you? Do you want to open it up so the sunshine gets in there a little quicker and melts snow and ice off a little sooner? When the canopy is close to the road like that, it shades it and slows down the time it takes to get the pavement de-iced,” he said.

 

Koopman cited a similar project near Garber, where a limestone bluff was next to the roadway.

 

“We moved the bluff back 100 feet from the edge of the road, and it changed that whole corridor, so you don’t have that scenic drive anymore. But it’s a lot safer. And the cost was kind of a trade off because we crushed the rock and used it on our gravel roads,” he said. “Do we want that extent on this project?”

 

A wider shoulder could even double as, or allow space for, a recreational trail. Residents said quite a few bicycles already use the road, but have limited room.

 

According to Koopman, the most traveled bike pathway in the county is Heitman Hill, outside Guttenberg, where there are paved shoulders.

 

“People drive out there to walk and bike up and down the hill. They do like using those hills for exercise,” he said. “This would be another great one, whether we just have the wider shoulders, and they are granular or paved shoulders, or whether we have a separated trail.”

 

“There is money for trail construction,” Koopman added. “And I know the city of Marquette has plans to expand trails.”

 

Although road safety and lessened wear and tear on vehicles were big concerns at the meeting, flood mitigation was the number one factor.

 

Marquette resident Eleanor Soulli, who’s lived in the community since 1956, said flooding in her Twin Bluffs neighborhood didn’t use to be an issue. Large rain events, which overflow the ditches in the area, have overwhelmed the storm sewer system and created four or five major flash floods in recent years, though.

 

“It’s amazing. You’re talking about water going over the road and to the other side,” described another resident, Cindy Halvorson. 

 

Debris exacerbates the problem, diverting water and causing hazards and damage.

 

“Once you get those ditches full and running down through there, it’s grabbing every leaf and tree branch. And there’s always garbage,” said Marquette Public Works Director Jason Sullivan.

 

Koopman said he’s discussed flooding with the city of Marquette several times. The question is whether to try and stop the water upstream so it comes down slower, or to help the city’s storm sewer system handle the water when it comes. Consensus seemed to point toward changing how storm water runs off the hill.

 

“There are some opportunities with some of these draws to create some retention basins that would reduce the amount of water coming down all at once,” he explained.

 

Marquette City Clerk Bonnie Basemann said a study has already indicated locations—around 10 small areas—that would be ideal.

 

The retention basins would be similar to a project completed by the city of McGregor.

 

“They have a pipe in the bottom that can only let so much [water] through. If it’s over that amount, then it starts to fill up and there’s another overflow tube,” Sullivan shared. “You’re storing millions and millions of gallons for that hard rain. You size the pipe in the bottom according to what you can take downstream.”

 

“It lets the water flow through at a slower rate, to where hopefully our system can take it,” he added.

 

It’s a challenging project, Koopman admitted. Private landowner cooperation is key.

 

“There are several areas we could put retention ponds in, but it does require working with landowners because it requires a lot of land to do that, and the county doesn’t have much right of way up through there. That’s one thing we’re definitely going to look at as we continue to develop this project,” he stated.

 

Funding is available for projects like this, however. FEMA, for example, helped with the flood mitigation retention basins for McGregor.

 

Unfortunately, securing funding could push road reconstruction and flood mitigation work out five to 10 years.

 

“We’re at the very beginning of this project,” Koopman said. “We have to get a concept and do some engineering, then start talking to landowners and see how cooperative they are. Once we get that stuff, we can start applying for grants. First you have to figure out what you want to do, then how you want to do it, then where the money is going to come from to pay for it. That’s where five years would probably be the earliest. Depending on how many grants we want to apply for, that might push it out.”

 

Koopman admitted the whole project is about 10 years behind schedule.

 

“We should have been planning a lot sooner,” he said.

 

In the meantime, the Clayton County Secondary Roads crew will continue maintaining Pleasant Ridge Road the best it can. The road received asphalt patches last year, and current plans include an asphalt overlay over the top, to finish it off.

 

“The asphalt overlays don’t last very long, but maybe we could put a thin layer on the hill, as a band aid to get us by a few years,” Koopman said. 

 

Otherwise, he stressed the road has not been structurally damaged due to flooding. “I’ve walked up and down that hill a couple different times in the last three years. There are not any areas on it that are unsafe right now, as far as danger of things collapsing. Yes, the water gets along the edge of the road and washes out so there’s kind of a drop off, and it does create a hazard. But as far as undermining of the pavement, I couldn’t see any evidence.”

 

Next, Koopman will consult with the Marquette City Council on how to proceed. Individual meetings with landowners could also be in the works, to address flood mitigation.

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