Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Rejoice, Christmas has come early to the citizens of Glencoe. We have a new street in town just in time for Heat in the Street … 2017.
The new block of Judd Avenue connecting busy 10th Street with the not-as-busy 11th Street now has its first layer of blacktop as of last week. And it only took an additional three months to complete.
The McLeod County Board and its top officials should be commended for their “swift” action. If only all government responded as quickly. Oh, that’s right, government does act about as swiftly. Never mind to that commendation.
It was a tough race to see whether the one new block of Judd Avenue would be completed before the snow flies. Since its original completion date flew past months ago, it was a good bet the street would remain in disarray throughout the winter.
Plan B may have been to use the bare street as a one-block cross country ski trail or have it flooded and used as another outdoor skating rink. We still have a mound of dirt on site to use as a sledding hill if the county ever cuts down the tall weeds and small trees growing on it.
So with Judd Avenue complete, Glencoe can now claim a city “street-to-nowhere” to match our “trail-to-nowhere.” Aren’t we lucky?
That goes hand-in-hand with Glencoe’s theme of being the “stop sign capitol of the state.” Ever notice that stop signs have a habit of popping up where least expected?
Now after years of being a straight shot on 11th Street from Pryor Avenue east to Union Avenue, we now have a stop sign on that stretch at Stevens Avenue. Didn’t even know there was a Stevens Avenue? Or Queen Avenue for that matter?
Haven’t noticed the new stop signs? Well, you probably blew through them like so many of us. Apparently it just showed up without warning.
Why that three-way intersection needed a two-way stop sign designation is known only to the local stop sign gods. There did not seem to be that much traffic congestion along that stretch of 11th Street, and it seemed to be one of the few remaining stretches without a stop sign every other block.
One aim of the stop signs is to channel motorists to other streets with less signage. But at this rate, there will be no other streets with less signage.
So those traveling the streets of Glencoe, add a few more minutes to your commute through town, unless, of course, you are taking the new “street-to-nowhere.” No stop signs on that one … yet.
Rich Glennie was the editor of The Chronicle for 23 years. He retired Aug. 1, 2014, but still plans to submit an occasional column.
Links:
[1] http://www.glencoenews.com/category/section/editorials