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VOTERS GUIDE: READ CANDIDATE PROFILES. PAGE 21
Cougars continue pool dominance
DEB BARNES | SUBMITTED LISA VALERIUS | SUBMITTED
Holding back the water Last week at the north end of Bald Eagle Lake, Pember Company installed the last few interlocking sheet piles that will keep the lake water from flowing out while the 129th Street Bridge is being replaced. Hugo Senior Engineering Technician Steve Duff said the project could be completed as early as mid-November, “if the
Diver Anna Sauter finished fifth against Andover.
weather holds.” The project financing is a joint effort between MnDOT, the city of Hugo, Rice Creek Watershed District and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Circle Pines – Centennial girls swim and dive roared to yet another conference victory last week as they beat the Andover Huskies 104-80. The Cougars remain undefeated in dual meets this season and are aiming for a fourth consecutive NWSC championship. Starting off with a first place finish was the 200 yard medley relay team of Abigail Schwartz, Sarah Laman, Seela Wang and Tara Chapman. Macy Wang followed with a first-place in the 200 yard freestyle, and Ellie Keen finished third. Layni Andrle, Sarah Grow and S. Wang dominated the 200 yard individual medley, taking first through third respectively. Schwartz and Chapman were first and second in the 50 yard freestyle. In the 100 yard butterfly Sarah Poellinger was second and Julianne Seppala fourth. Grow was second in the 100 yard freestyle followed by Solveig Stensland vinv third. Schwartz had her second win of the night touching first in the 500 yard freestyle. Grow, Stensland, Andrle and Carly Rademacher were first to the wall in the 200 freestyle relay.
County to tackle problem intersection BY DEB BARNES CONTRIBUTING WRITER
LINO LAKES — Where Sunset Avenue and Apollo Drive meet, it’s not a pretty picture. But that will change next year if Anoka County’s first roundabout project in Lino Lakes is constructed as planned. Assistant County Engineer Andrew Whitter presented preliminary design drawings to the Lino Lakes City Council at its Oct. 5 work session and introduced the project as one that’s been a long time in coming. “We’ve actually been meeting with [one] property owner for five or six years,” Whitter said. Mayor Jeff Reinert said, “I don’t like roundabouts, but you just may have found the best solution for the goofiest
corner I have ever seen in my life.” The offset intersection of County Roads 12 and 53 creates a problem for drivers as well as pedestrians within a corridor designated for a future Anoka County Regional Trail connection, Whitter said. “I see people biking, walking, the whole works, through that intersection. It gets very dicey.” He noted that pedestrians crossing a roundabout don’t have the signal and crosswalk indicators, but only have to worry about one direction of traffic at a time. “In a lot of respects, it’s much safer.” The corner also poses a problem for drivers of large trucks, who have difficulty making the turn on the south intersection, Whitter said. “This has been a dangerous corner for decades,” the mayor said.
Whitter said the county has been working to minimize impacts on adjacent property owners and commissioned an intersection control evaluation, or ICE report, from Stonebrooke Engineering to evaluate those impacts. The report examined half a dozen or so design concepts, including a traditional signal, to solve what Whitter called an “undesirable situation.” “I think this [roundabout] design does a very good job of it,” he said. The roundabout will likely feature a raised, 60-foot-diameter landscaped area in the center and a 20-foot lane for traffic. A 13-foot truck apron on the inside of the circle will provide extra room for trucks in making the turning maneuver. SEE CORNER, PAGE 2
SEE SWIMMING, PAGE 9
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