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Page 1 of 4 City Of Pequot Planning &Zoning From: 'T and N Adams"<thadams@uslink.net> To: '"City Of Pequot Planning &Zoning"' <planzone@uslink.net>; "'Woog,Tommy <tmmy @waterwars.com>; "'Nelson, Martin"' <nelsons 1 @uslink.net>; "'Moon, Karl"' <themoons @uslink.net>; "'Hallan, Mark'" <mhallan @wsn-mn.com>; "'Dotty, Joe <dautoco@uslink.net>; "'Derksen, John"' <jderksen @uslink.net> Sent: Monday, February 23,2004 3:27 PM Subject: RE: bypass All, I have read Tommy Woog's memo regarding the expansion of 371 and wholeheartedly concur with his comments. The 5 to 2 vote by the city council in favor of routing the expanded highway through town was shortsighted in my view. A couple of additional comments to add to Tommy's. I served on the Long Range Planning Committee that drafted the new Pequot Lakes Comp.plan. We spent substantial time on the Community Character section and there was, as I recall, unanimous agreement among committee members that the small town(or up north) feel of Pequot Lakes was of critical importance. Also,recreational space in town was very important. A through the middle of Pequot Lakes 4 lane highway as Tommy clearly states will "decimate our town" and is not supportive of the basic thrust of the comprehensive plan. Not only will a through town 4 lane highway essentially do away with the up north feel of our downtown area, it will also substantially destroy much of the remaining green space in this area The expanded highway will significantly encroach on current park space. Traffic congestion-Routing the expanded highway through town will not only create added safety concerns but will create huge traffic congestion issues for cars trying to move through town from CR 11 as well as for those who shop in Pequot. While some of this will be driven by traffic in and out of the school,a great deal will be driven by traffic that simply wants to get through Pequot to another destination. This is strongly supported by the computer traffic models developed by MNDOT as they have conducted their own assessment of how best to expand 371. MNDOT further admits that invariably their studies consistently underestimate the amount of traffic. Our city gains nothing by having this heavy traffic load traveling at high speeds directly through the city's heart. Finally,the City has a one time opportunity to make itself,over a period of years, an even more interesting and viable city for both residents and tourists than it currently is. Routing the expanded highway around town provides all kinds of flexibility to further develop the downtown into a within a 10-15 mile radius of Pequot. For instance, `-' we could create a town square concept which would enable people to easily access all of the area on foot and safely. Green space would be 2/23/04