Economic development is critical to a community's survival, and officials in the City of Worthington are well aware of that. That's why a plan that would change the classification level of U.S. 59 between Worthington and Marshall is alarming.
As the Saturday edition of the Daily Globe reported, a recommendation being put forth by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) suggests changing U.S. 59 from a principal arterial to a minor arterial. If the lower classification is indeed made, U.S. 59 could wait longer to receive money for improvements.
Fortunately for communities between Worthington and Marshall, the Southwest Regional Development Commission (SRDC) has a contract with MnDOT and is providing local units of government with information about the proposed change. In fact, the SRDC is welcoming feedback from any concerned party.
We can only hope the feedback comes in droves. The Worthington City Council, in particular, authorized Mayor Alan Oberloh to write a letter to SRDC on the city's behalf expressing strong opposition to the reclassification. Oberloh remarked to the Globe that he couldn't "see any way that changing the status from a major to a minor arterial highway could benefit Worthington," and we agree with this sentiment.
It should be noted that MnDOT has based its recommendation on traffic flow and usage of roads in its entire highway network. On one hand, it does make sense that heavy-traffic roads are prioritized when it comes to appropriations for maintenance. But, by the same token, does it seem appropriate -- particularly at a time at which it's widely acknowledged that transportation funding is sorely lacking -- to penalize one road in favor of another? (This funding issue is one reason why this newspaper has expressed its support for the motor vehicle sales tax constitutional amendment being offered in November). This is particularly important when communities on these less-traveled roads are working so diligently to make them busier.
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Case in point: The City of Worthington, along with WREDC and Nobles County, have worked together to establish a bioscience park along U.S. 59. The park -- with Prairie Holdings Group nearby and a lab tech program at Minnesota West already in place -- looks to be the perfect home for relocated or new bioscience business. But would anyone want to locate a business along a deteriorating roadway?
City Councilman Lee Hain put it well at a July 24 council meeting: "It's a step in the wrong direction when we're trying to build economic development in southwest Minnesota."
