Wadena might be able to steer its future in the route Highway 10 should follow.
Minnesota Department of Transportation is in the midst of an environmental impact study of four possible routes when expanding the highway from two to four lanes. Three arc north of town and bypass Wadena. The fourth follows Highway 10s current route.
If the through-town option is chosen, it will be expanded from the highway to the railroad tracks. Businesses will have to be relocated. If one of the bypasses is chosen, homes and, in some cases, century-old farms will be lost.
Its not an easy decision. However, one part is a no-brainer: Highway 10 needs to be expanded to four lanes. The two-lane Wadena portion creates a traffic bottleneck. As Mayor Wayne Wolden has said, from an economic development standpoint, Wadena has lost business because of Highway 10.
Frankly, Highway 10 improvements have become the symbol of broken promises in Wadena. Youll find people who will tell you stories about highway discussions from 30 years ago.
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But city officials think that this time, the improvements really will happen.
That also could depend on Wadena.
Vernell Roberts, Wadena Area Chamber of Commerce board member and city utility director, said Wadena as a whole needs to get together and choose a route. That, he said, could make the difference. If MnDOT sees the community is united, the state will have to worry less about a political battle. That will make the project easier to get done.
Roberts has said that Rep. Jim Oberstar has said he will find the funding for Highway 10 if Wadena decides what it wants.
The Chamber of Commerce is gathering the opinions from the business community.
Although the construction process is several years away at least, we cant afford to wait until the last minute. As Roberts said at a recent meeting, Highway 23 near Paynesville, which has less traffic than Highway 10 was granted funding. It had political clout, but the community also got behind the project.
We dont want to lose the expansion of Highway 10, which undoubtedly would be a boon to the community, just because we cant agree. Its time to come together and make a decision so that were ready when MnDOT is.
