After reading the “axes on Highway 34” article, I couldn’t help but wonder if MnDOT official Gabe Dretsch and his colleagues attended the same public meeting that so many of my neighbors and I did.
As one who was at the open house for the majority of the event, I strongly disagree with the assessment that the public was “misinformed” or that we were “less opposed” and that “most attendees left with a more positive outlook.”
Gaslighting is the trendy word for statements like those of MnDOT, but wishing it were true does not make it so. Perhaps if MnDOT’s participants had held a true public forum where input was recorded, rather than an open house with lots of informal, undocumented conversations, data would exist to support their claims.
None exists, so we are left to wonder how these conclusions were drawn. MnDOT representatives weren’t taking notes, they merely repeated the same talking points without offering any scientific research to support their blue-sky claims. Was my input heard, documented, or valued? Quite the opposite.
MnDOT’s comments leave me with these questions, “if the public is misinformed, how did that happen?” Could it possibly be that MnDOT itself has failed to develop a thoughtful, reasonable, science-based plan that is clearly communicated to the taxpayers?
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Instead of chain saws and axes, MnDOT should not be experimenting with the Highway 34 Scenic Byway. Please go test these unproven ideas on other less valuable roadways before destroying our eastern Becker County treasure.
The Trust Project
