It's time to plan for growth

Dec 14, 2009

I used to say that growth was at our door step in Ham Lake.

This is no longer the case because growth is now in the middle of our collective living room. Ham Lakers want to protect our rural character to ensure we are the Gem of Anoka County.

It’s a noble goal and something for which we should never lose sight

Despite the economy slowing our growth in recent years, the changes that are occurring all around us will certainly have a significant impact on the future of our city.

 The more I learn about the region, the more convinced I am that we must have a proactive strategy to preserve what we love the most in Ham Lake: our rural character.

By 2030 the metro area is expected to grow by 1 million people, and most of the growth is projected to occur in the northern portion of the metro.

The south metro has absorbed the bulk of the population growth in the past; now the majority of their remaining land is designated as agricultural preserve.

These projections are based on a compilation of city and county projections.

It’s clear that the communities around us are primed and looking for growth. Ham Lake has to examine what the impact will be on our community and how we can prepare for this impending growth.

The impact to our traffic patterns provides one example of change we must consider.

A significant portion of the traffic we deal with comes from people merely driving through our city. Currently, 45 to 56 percent of adults living in Chisago and Isanti counties work in the Twin Cities area.

Those long strings of cars that travel on Lexington, Highway 65 and Crosstown are mostly these residents driving to and from work.  

It is estimated that by 2030 eight additional lanes will be needed to accommodate the traffic.

Clearly this is not going to happen, so other roads such as Naples, University,

Radisson and maybe even a new road next to Carlos Avery are being considered to handle the north-south flow.

Believe it or not, this study even includes utilizing mass transit along the Highway 65 corridor.

Here’s the kicker - improving and expanding Highway 65 is not even on the 2030 plan for the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

If it was, we would have less of a need for new roads.

Because we lack the resources to improve these roads, our state legislators need to get busy advocating for this or we in Ham Lake will have to deal with these traffic congestion problems.  

Here’s the good news - our area may soon have express bus service to downtown Minneapolis.

It appears Anoka County will receive a grant through the Met Council to receive federal funds to make this a reality. The initial park and ride will be near Highway 14 in Blaine with up to 400 parking spaces.  

The possibility of expanding service even further north to Cambridge with additional park and rides is being considered.

This makes good sense since many originating riders begin here.

While nothing is certain and all the details must be worked out, the hope for some congestion relief is in sight.

If all goes as planned we could have local bus service as soon as 2013 or 2014.

Radisson Road will be upgraded next year from Highway 242 in Blaine till Bunker Lake Boulevard as well as Bunker Lake Boulevard from Radisson to Highway 65.

The intersection of these two roads will be upgraded with turn signals and stop lights.  

Anoka County recently received the funding request to improve the intersection on Lexington and Crosstown.

This, too, will be upgraded with turn lanes and stop lights by 2013 or 2014. Also, Lexington Avenue is scheduled to be upgraded to four lanes to just north of Bunker Lake Boulevard in the next few years.

These changes alone will alter the landscape of the city.

And they clearly demonstrate the preparation needed to deal with the population growth in coming years.  

Today, Ham Lake lacks any reasonable way to pay for additional future improvements we must make to accommodate any significant population growth.

The demands on our infrastructure such as fire protection, police coverage, parks and trails, continue to increase.

We must look for ways to collaborate at the state, county and the city levels to develop an attractive economic environment that will expand the tax base to supplement improvements.  

I remain convinced that building a downtown center at the intersection of Highway 65 and Crosstown would provide us such an economic engine for the next 20 to 30 years.

Since population growth will come whether we like it or not, without such a tax base, we will be forced to pass its costs along to the homeowners. And no resident wants this!

Consider also all the new community amenities a thriving downtown center would provide in addition to the creation of new jobs and businesses – a win-win scenario.

The Ham Lake City Charter Commission recently unanimously passed an increase to the amount the city can spend on a project without requiring a referendum.

Currently, bonding is the only means we have to fund some needed projects as we are not putting money aside to pay for them.

In fact, we recently submitted a request to borrow future allocated money from the state MSA funds to work on some much needed road projects now.  

While bonding is a viable option, the reality is that we are not paying our way as we go and are incurring interest costs on money borrowed.

In essence, we are passing costs along to future councils and residents.

Nevertheless, I support the decision by the charter commission as we can’t ignore some projects much longer.

To protect our neighborhoods and our rural character we need to think ahead, plan for changes that are here and anticipate what lies ahead.

We need to find the means to pay for new realities without burdening current residents.

We can make Ham Lake the Gem of Anoka County by proactively molding and shaping our changing landscape, by making growth work for us and not allowing it to run over us!

Paul Meunier

Anoka County Union