Skip to main content

Who ever is causing the delays ought to come up with the dollars

 Dear Editor:
 I just got back from another bad accident on Highway 169 in our 5-mile project area. Three injuries, severity I’m not positive...All had been taken to Ely Bloomenson Hospital when I got there.
At least three ambulances (Ely and two Tower), 3 wrecker trucks (Bob’s Amoco & 2 Armory Shell), at least 3 St Louis County Sheriffs, 2 MHP, and 1 Breitung sheriff on scene, as well as several other First Responders.
Accident occurred between Mud Creek Road and Armstrong corner, approx. MP 273.2 Involved vehicles: Ford F-150 towing about 20 ft Travel Trailer southbound toward Tower, Ford Focus northbound to Ely. (1 injured here) Not positive on what happened. Focus gone to Bob’s when I arrived. F-150 and Trailer down 40 foot steep ravine on Armstrong Lake side. (2 injured in this vehicle)
No recovery room, no guard rails!! Roadway still not moved away from ravine as in our MnDOT Eagles Nest (SP6904-46) plans! Dozens of vehicles backed up intermittently for a couple hours, Semi’s, cars, delivery vans, trucks, School Buses, etc.
    Remember Congressman Oberstar Got us the HPP (High Priority Project) funding for safety improvements in August 2005!-! This has got to be one of the slowest damn projects that I have ever been involved with....anywhere, ever in my life! This is a travesty!! What do we have to do or who do we have to get to get anything MOVING and to get this done???
Commissioner Zelle, Directors Chiglo and Barnes agreed this road is bad. District 1 Engineer Duane Hill did not want me to pull over with our van on our tour because there was NO Safe place in the majority of the 5-mile stretch. Jim Oberstar was disgusted last fall when he heard this project was not done yet!
What is the real reason for the delay!! There have been absolutely NO Good Answers... WHEN IS THIS GOING TO GET DONE? And done right! We’re pushed back another year to 2017! It will be 20 years after some of the group started on this project (1997-98), 17 years officially (July of 2000), 12 years after it was funded (Aug 2005), it might have construction equipment on the ground in 2017.
Three more people injured!  How many more? Lucky again, there were no fatalities!
Who’s going to fund the short fall of dollars caused by all these delays?
Maybe who ever is causing the delays ought to come up with the dollars.
Somebody needs to take action NOW and get this project approved, moving, and on the ground with construction equipment working now.
Bill Erzar
Ely

Sign up for News Alerts

Subscribe to news updates