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Record of Official Proceedings of the Common Council •
of the City of. Rochester, Minn.,_ December 13, 1973
Minutes of an
adjourned regular meeting of .the
Common
Council
of the City of
Rochester, Minnesota
held in the Council. Chambers in
the City
Hall; in
said• City on
December 13, 1973.
President Postier called the* meeting to order at 7:30 o,'clock P.M., the ,following
members being present: President Postier, %1dermen Kamper, Larson, Ludowese, McNary
Powers, Strain. Absent: • None.•
Hearing to consider the .concept of establishing a North -South one-way street system
in the downtown area. If this concept is approved, a future hearing could be scheduled to
determine the diagonal connections. Letters received in opposition of this one-way street
were received from :.The Young Men's Christian Association featuring 10 points of opposition;
The Kohler. Corporation; Hotel. Arthur, and a. petition, circulated to. the. busi.nesses of
Rochester, which stated .95 opposed, 15 in favor, 15. had no opinion,,:, President Postier also
presented a- petition containing. approximately 41.1 signatures opposing this project.
Mr. Jack Dolan, Traffic Engineer presented slides on various routes and patterns
of the downtown street "plan.
Wishing to be heard was Joel Block representing the executive Board of Directors
of the YMCA of Rochester. Mr. Block read the letter of opposition presented to -the Council,
he stated that at the last YMCA meeting, the Board did not take an over-all position either
for or against the one-way system, but the primary concern -is how the street would effect
the 7,000 .peopl:•a- using ,YMCA facilities. Wishing, to be heard .was .Edwin Haw of 1427- 4th
Ave. S. W. and 'as a downtown businessman; -thinks' it. is. imperative, to move ahead with this
plan as soon as possible as it would be good for the -future of Rochester. George Margellos
of 103 12th Avenue N. W. , owner of the Princess Cafe on Broadway and is opposed to making
Ist Ave. S.W. N.W. and Ist Ave. S. E. N. E. I way streets. His theory is this would alleviate
traffic on Highway 63, he states that three times as many cars enter 63 as leave it, and that
cars coming into town could use alternate routes. Various properties would be ,taken, for this
project which would .clause the City millions -of dollars and we would apply .forfederal funds,
but those programs could be closed and then' we would have-46 pay for this. He 'states that
he gets his business locally and we should stick to our streets and improve them.
Wishing to be heard was John Chisholm of 50
Skyline Drive representing
the
Olmsted County
National Bank and stated that even though : he
is not a :traffic engineer,
the
East .side of
Broadway is weak in traffic and the West side
is strong. He states that
this,
is the only
proposal in the United States to put traffic in the core of the City -rather then route it
around. He thinks walkways should be made from the medical -center so that access could
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Record.of Official Proceedings of the Common Council
of the City of Rochester, Minn., Pcember/1+3; 1973
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be made to the downtown. He talked to the owner of the Dayton building and they are
opposed to this,it would separate the retailers from the medical complex. He stated
that Rochester had the traffic plans made years ago, and the traffic has changed and
Rochester has a different problem now. He thinks that doing nothing is better then
doing the wrong thing. The largest taxpayers in this area are against this.
Wishing to be heard was Robert Finn who owns a small business on North Broadway,
and is opposed to this. He would like to see the traffic from Highway 63 be rerouted
off Broadway.
Wishing to be heard was Philip Halling,..and stated he and-hi-s.brother are property
owners on- First -Avenue--and:;are'-not__opposed-to the one way street plan, especially
the Southbound lane on S. W. .it would take a share of their parking. lot. He questioned .
the price of the project and wondered about the property value of his establishment and
how this would effect it: he also stated that 1. The traffic jam at the YMCA . They
would have to go quite a bit out of the way to get a street going the other way and
2. Why don't the Council eliminate the Highway 63 traffic from downtown.
Wishing to be heard was Clair Fisher of 1533 loth Avenue S. E. has been a resident of
Rochester for 50 years and -is absolutely. against using any part of Soldiers Field
for streets. Wishing to be heard was William Perry of R. # 4, Rochester, Minnesota
and is in favor of the one-way street system for Rochester.
Wishing to be heard was Mr. Alan Rich of C.F.Massey Company is in favor of the one way
streets with this in mind'. 1 way North on the East side; 1 way South on the West side
with,Broadway left open; His second choice.is Broadway North and 1st Avenue S.
Wishing to be heard was Mr. Lloyd McGath of 1929 1st St. N. W. Wondered if.it was
necessary to go into this project, he stated with gas rationing etc. we would have less
cars then we need.
Mr. Gene McConnell.of 207 4th Avenue N.W. stated that he is opposed to one way streets, &
with the gasoline shortage, and the trend to have less traffic, he thinks we don't have
any °.real , need for this project.
Wishing to be heard was Mr. Richard Ehrick, Attorney in the Olmsted County Bank Building
Downtown, and stated urged the Council to reconfirm the thorofare plan. He stated that
we have a very troubled downtown, and stated we should-go.ahead with this project. He
stated that many people who oppose this don't understand what -is happening. -He thinks the
downtown can be revitalized.
Mr. Richard Dison of 214 North Broadway stated that.Mr. Ehrick worked 4 floors up and
don't pay the taxes downdown he stated that 95 people signed a petition to oppose
this project. They operate businesses downtown, and they should have the first consid -
eration. He stated "How can the Council adopt a concept plan , when they don't know
what the concept is".
Curt Lair of 411 21st St. S. W. owns property downtown stated his taxes went up, and
thinks Highway 63 should be rerouted, he don't want traffic moving fast, traffic signs
help, and we would need a new North Broadway bridge, said the medical complex don't need
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Record of Official Proceedings of the Common Council
of the City.of _Rochester, Minn., December 11, 1973
Claude Grassle, owner of the Carlton Hotel, Downtown and is opposed to the project.
some of his parking would be taken away, and because of the condition of the country,
and high taxes, he urged the Council to think carefully.
John Duxbury, owner of the Village Stitchery in downtown thinks that Rochester has great
potential, but something has to be done with traffic going thru town.
James Sadler operates Motels in town stated .that Rochester has serious traffic prob-
lems we should think in terms of moving forward, and is in favor of the project. He
thinks a plan should be developed so that other people can develop around it, and
free parking should be provided.for employees so they don't park on the streets.
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Dave Huffman of 831 10 1/2 St. S., W. of the Park Board Commissioners stated that a
sacrifice would be made in the greenery area, but will urge the Council to take pre-
vention.
Percy Rian of Rian's Barbershop in 19 North Broadway is opposed to this project stated
one way street would hurt his business.
Gary Moline of 510 6th St. S. W. is in favor of the one way plan
Mr. Claude Grassle inquired about the status of Broadway and Highway 63 Mr. Floyd McCabe
stated until they accept a by-pass, it is Federal Aid Highway.
Donna Moline of 510 6th St. S. W. stated we should listen to Mr. Dolan and is in favor of
the one way street plan.
John Kahler of 1046 loth Avenue S. W. stated the Kahler Hotel is opposed to the one-way
project.Stated that most of the plans are good looks, but do they work, the Council
must look at this in a long range term and its effects on Rochester. He moves we
go with Plan 2, delete the North -South pair and plan for the North - South
street signals, etc.
Llyod Welty of 914 9 1/2 St. S. E. and managers Stevenson's downtown for 40 years
spoke as a private citizen and feels something should be done in Rochester or there
will 'not be a place for small shops. He stated retail is a great part of Rochester
and the express of the downtown one way system is needed , but not Broadway as a one
way street.
Having no one else present that wished to be heard, President Postier closed..the hearing.
The Council discussed this, President Postier read a letter of opposition to the project
stating statistics he gathered.
Alderman Kamper stated that we do need a long range plan and the streets will be of
service to all people , she stated concern over the financial problem and of using
Broadway as an interum.
Alderman Strain stated the time is now, we should start looking a long-range plan we
can live with.
Alderman McNary stated we are discussing concepts only and the use of North Broadway is
not to popular an idea, he stated that the population figure is about to double in 26
years and the need for these streets are coming and we should look ahead and get this
down on paper. He is in favor of adopting the concept and move ahead.
Record of Official Proceedings of the Common Council 66 1'
of the City of Rochester, Minn., December 13, 1973
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Alderman Powers stated he agreed with President Postier that we don't need the one-way
immediately, but since we do need to plan ahead his choice of a major thoroughfare is
the East side of Broadway, but we should seriously look at the plan and do it right
1st Avenue East and lst Avenue West is his second choice, but he feels we should have
a plan.
Alderman Paul Ludowese stated that since Worlk War II everyone had to have a car,
now it seems like every family has to have two cars, much land has been given up
for the car, it has polluted the air, used land and spent dollars on pollution
devices and we reduced mileage and now we have a fuel shortage - he stated the enchant-
ment is disappearing a little and people have just about had it with automobiles,
he stated people don't want to spend millions to worship the automobile and he strongly
urges the Council to reject the ilea and withdraw this from any future consideration.
He stated " We have to stop this thing about a lousy autombile."
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Larson moved, Strain second that this Council reaffirm the concept of the pair of
one-way streets namely 1st Avenue East and lst Avenue West as .a one - way pair and that
the Traffic Engineer be directed to prepare the necessary Environmental.Impact Study
to meet the requirement for Federal funding. Upon Roll call vote, Aldermen Kamper,
Larson, McNary, Powers and Strain voted aye. Ayes (5), Alderman Ludowese,,and
President Postier voted nay, Nays (2), Motion carried.
Having no further business, Powers moved, Kamper second to adjourn the meeting
Ayes (7), Nays (0). Motion carried.
City Clerk
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662
Record of Official Proceedings of the
Common Council
of the City of Rochester, Minn.,
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