DETROIT LAKES — I read MnDOT District 4 Engineer Shiloh Wahl's opinion column , and I call balderdash – plain and simple. Someone in the MnDOT hierarchy has a gear stuck in the stubborn position and it's not budging.
Quoting Mr. Wahl here: "In the past five years, there have been 412 serious injuries and 133 fatalities in Minnesota due to vehicles leaving the roadway and impacting trees."
In all of Minnesota? Where are the numbers on that 7-mile stretch on Highway 34? Where are the stats on what caused these incidents on this 7-mile stretch? How many were caused by speeding? Reckless driving? Passing in no passing zones? Distracted driving? Driving while impaired? And finally, the bad road conditions caused by Mother Nature and some drivers have no clue how to drive during those conditions. Mr. Wahl is trying to blame the highway and the trees for these accidents instead of the human drivers.
The other thing that grabbed my attention was where he stated that after cutting down the unhealthy trees and the trees that produce the greatest shading on the road, MnDOT will then plant additional new trees further back from the road to encourage new growth and support the forest's biodiversity.
A logging company must have been dancing with joy when they were awarded the contract to cut down the trees along this stretch. Talk about easy access. The trees with the greatest shading will be the trees that aren't replaceable. They've been there for the length of time it took for them to grow as tall as they are now.
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I've seen what MnDOT has done to other highways that they've worked on. Basically, it's now just “keep on driving, nothing to see here.” It's a shame.
Making Highway 34 into a four-lane highway is, more than likely, on MnDOT's wish list, also known as the plans for the future. Why else would they be doing the clearing that they're doing now?
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