The trees in front of Bendix Elementary School’s Cardinal Kingdom are gone and stakes mark where the new, wider Highway 24 will extend, but safety measures for the children who will be playing closer to the busy road are still in dispute. The widening of Highway 24, scheduled to start along that stretch after the Sunday, July 15, Heart of the Lakes Triathlon, will bring the highway considerably closer to where the students play. The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s solution is to erect a chain link fence, but the school district doesn’t think that is good enough. They want the playground either moved at MnDOT’s expense, or a fence that will not only keep the kids off the road, but will keep cars off the playground. So far the two entities have not been able to reach a satisfactory conclusion, so the decision will be left up to three state-appointed commissioners. On Friday, July 13, they will visit the site to see the situation for themselves. Later in the summer representatives from MnDOT and the school district will appear before them and state their cases. Annandale Supt. Steve Niklaus says a decision has to be made and safety precautions met before school starts in early September. "We want to address safety issues moving the road closer to the school presents. Either move the playground or provide fencing sturdy enough to restrict traffic that may leave the road, and restrict students from wondering onto the road," Niklaus said. "With a chain link fence, cars could still come through." The district has other disputes with MnDOT that it hopes the commissioners will unravel as well. For one, the district isn’t happy with the value MnDOT assigned to the chunk of school-owned land they will be taking for the project. They offered $5,000 for the stretch of property extending from the intersection of Poplar Avenue and Park Street to the Bendix parking lot. "That’s way below market price," Niklaus said, after a second appraisal estimated the land to be worth around $11,000. The district was offered $25,000 total for the land, loss of trees and purchase of a chain link fence. The district also complained that MnDOT provided no compensation in the contract to replace the curbing it needs to remove along the entrance to the Bendix parking lot. But the district’s primary concern is still safety. Not only would the chain link fence not stand up to an out-of-control vehicle rushing at it at 30 miles per hour, it would be a temptation for kids to climb, Niklaus said. If a fence is going to be used, it must not be climbable, he said. In the school district’s opinion, the best option is to move Cardinal Kingdom altogether. Since Cardinal Kingdom is made out of wood, the 13-year old community built playground wouldn’t actually be moved, but replaced. A new setup would be bought and put together behind the school near the other playground equipment at a cost of $100,000. The less expensive route would be to install a safer fence. The district favors an ornamental fence that costs around $52,000. Not only will the design fit in better with the ornamental lighting already on that stretch of Highway 24, it is strung with steel cables built to restrain vehicles. The steel-cable-fortified fence would stretch 200 feet along the section of highway closest to the playground. An additional 200 feet would be added along either side of that, but those sections would not need the steel cable reinforcement, making it less expensive, Niklaus said. The widening of Highway 24 will extend from Annandale to Clearwater. It will include adding left turn lanes to Bendix and Centennial Villa Assisted Living across the highway. Since there is little space to work with on the north side of the road, the widening of the highway at that spot will almost all be accomplished by moving south, closer to Cardinal Kingdom. The school district is pleased, however, with MnDOT’s newest plans to modify the exit at Bendix onto the highway to include left and right turning lanes. One lane will go into the school parking lot and two lanes will come out. Niklaus hopes the addition will ease some of the congestion before and after school. As for the ruling from the commissioners, Niklaus is hopeful. "I think everybody values safety for kids. That will be the priority and what governs whatever decision is made."
