Temperance River Wayside Design
Meeting Notes
November 19, 2012
Temperance River Wayside Design
Kick-Off Meeting with Coordinating Group
November 19, 2012, 10AM – 1 PM
Cross River Heritage Center
Schroeder, MN
In Attendance: Phil Leversedge, DNR; Jason Peterson, DNR; Todd Campbell, DOT; Bruce Martinson,
Cook Co. Commissioner; Cheryl Erikson, North Shore Scenic Drive; Steve Schug, neighbor & Cross River
Historical Society; John Bathke, landowner & NSSD, CJ Fernandez, LHB, Inc.; Duane Lula, ARDC
1. Introductions
2. Project Scope & Purpose
a. Project funding through MN DNR Lake Superior Coastal Program Grant, with match by
MN DOT. ARDC submitted grant on behalf of the North Shore Scenic Drive Council.
b. Nature of Project - Improved parking, Public access to Lake Superior & adjacent coastal
habitat, Interpretive strategy.
c. Potential Benefits - Improved safety for vehicle & pedestrian traffic. Visitors gain
increased knowledge of Lake Superior and its coastal areas, including Temperance River.
d. Outcomes
i. Design plan for recommended construction and information improvements for
vehicles and pedestrian safety
ii. Interpretive enhancement of site to educate visitors about Lake Superior and its
coastal zone
iii. Design plan will be the basis of future funding requests for implementing these
improvements.
3. Project Steps and Timeline - Three Step Process with expected completion by May of 2013.
a. Step 1 – Meeting held November 19, 2012
i. Establish committee
ii. Identify issues, opportunities and constraints to be addressed
iii. Identify and gather historical information, previous designs and surveys, and
park management plans. (DOT is searching for past designs for wayside and
bridge, DNR will provide copies of 1990’s mgt. plan for State Park)
iv. Site visit to see current condition and constraints, and to discuss issues and
opportunities
v. LHB, Inc. will continue one on one discussions with DOT, DNR, ARDC and NSSD.
b. Step 2 – Preliminary Design and exploration of options
i. Meeting to be held in mid-January 2013 (tentative)
ii. Presentation of preliminary site design concept for review by committee.
iii. Comments and discussions on preliminary design. Suggestions for
modifications.
iv. Public open house meeting to be held in afternoon following committee
meeting to present and explain preliminary designs and to gather public
comments and suggestions. (This was added as a result of Step 1 discussions).
c. Step 3 – Final Concept Design
i. Meeting to be held in spring (prior to May 2013)
ii. Presentation of Final Concept Design to Committee
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Temperance River Wayside Design
Meeting Notes
November 19, 2012
4. Identification of Issues, Opportunities and Constraints
The committee took turns listing and discussing the various issues with the current situation, the
opportunities for improvements and changes, and any constraints of the site.
Issues
a. Eventual Bridge Replacement and road re-alignment in 10 to 20 years. The new bridge
will be wider. Bridge engineer will be involved. (This major investment and change in
the not –too-distant future will affect the near-term changes to the wayside).
b. Access to Trails Up and Down the River – currently, trails users must cross the highway
to continue their journey on the trails on either side of the river.
c. Parking Along Highway – Is this a legitimate option and should it continue? Or should
off-highway parking be considered? (ala Gooseberry and Tettagouche)
d. Public Access and ADA Access – need to provide quality, safe access to river, lake and
park and ensure access is available for all users (ADA compliant).
e. Safety for both Vehicles and Pedestrians – highway speeds, site distances, pedestrian
crossings, signage
f. Restrooms – should they be provided? ADA accessibility and operational costs.
g. Maintenance and Drainage -Site must be designed to accommodate winter plowing and
facilitate good drainage and handling of runoff. Type of surface materials for site.
h. Historic Walls – poor condition of the historic CCC built walls on either side of wayside
gives bad first impression of site.
i. Long Term Parking – is this a problem? Does the area need to be signed to alert long
term users of long term parking available elsewhere?
j. Experience Levels – ensure that public access provides different levels of experience for
different users.
Opportunities
a. Improve Safety – including swimming safety
b. Managed Signing – on site and on approaches to site
c. Visitor Information – improve visitor information, interpretive info, and wayshowing.
d. Education
e. Create Vistas -on upper side of road. Open some vistas for views to the river.
f. Relocate Parking Area – away from highway, or perhaps on just one side of the
highway.
g. Driver Early Alert – give better warnings to drivers that congested/pedestrian area is
located ahead.
h. Manage Traffic Speeds – through site. Currently 40 MPH.
i. Meeting Capacity – 250,000 people per year visit the site. How to better accommodate
that use.
Constraints
a. Topography – Limited area to find alternative parking.
b. Right of Way – How wide is it? If any changes outside ROW, then DOT and DNR will
have to work out changes between the two agencies.
c. Highway Reconstruction Timelines – anything done now will have to mesh with future
reconstruction or potentially will be torn out when highway reconstructed through this
area.
d. Adjacent Campgrounds – Two heavily used campgrounds are adjacent to the wayside.
e. Funding – where will the dollars come from to finance any proposed changes to
wayside?
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Temperance River Wayside Design
Meeting Notes
November 19, 2012
5. Other Topics Discussed
a. CCC era historic wall is not considered significant from historical standpoint. There is a
document in the file that confirms this. This will make modifications to the site less
complicated. Need to find copy for our records.
b. Duane will work with Bruce with regard to providing information about the project to
Schroeder and Tofte Township Meetings in December and getting some information
into the Cook County News Herald.
c. Question regarding who is the “public” for this project. Locals are clearly a public, but
how do we reach the visitors, who make up much of the use of the site during the main
use season.
d. Phil mentioned that Lidar mapping is available for the site and would be helpful for the
purposes of design planning.
e. LHB, Inc. will be developing more than one concept to address the variety of issues,
constraints and opportunities of the site.
f. Discussion of DOT’s “grand plan” from several years ago where new bridge would be
built high above, with existing road and bridge being used for park and river access. It is
doubtful that design would be implemented given today’s funding realities. DOT will try
to locate those plans and provide to the group.
g. Ability to make major changes to wayside will be limited by the existing bridge and road
alignment, and the likelihood of new bridge in 10 to 20 years. Don’t want to make
major investments that may be negated in 20 years, but perhaps can plan for how to
meld short term improvements so they are compatible with long term infrastructure.
h. There are many short term items that we can focus on for this project. The eventual
road and bridge design for the area will be the major opportunity to address the site in a
comprehensive way.
6. Site Visit – meeting re-convened at the wayside to view site and continue discussions
a. CCC Historic wall – existing wall in disrepair and a visual and maintenance detraction to
the wayside site.
b. New wall or curb – DNR would not support using artificial stone walls at Temperance
River Wayside (such as the ones at Cross River wayside) as they don’t believe it fits well
with the park’s design theme.
c. ADA requirements – about 4 years ago, the park constructed an ADA compliant access
to the river on the uphill side of the highway. With changes in ADA requirements, this
access would not be ADA compliant if built today.
d. Walkways – the recent addition of a walkway on uphill side of highway has been fairly
effective at getting people to use it, rather than walk behind their parked cars and closer
to the highway.
e. Pedestrian Crosswalk – being on-site, it was clear that it takes concerted effort to only
cross the highway at the pedestrian crosswalk.
f. Parking area on NW side of River – This is supposed to be parallel parking only, but
some people angle park, even though there is very limited width. Walking area where
bridge joins this parking area is very narrow, and several group members felt
uncomfortable walking through this area as a semi-truck drove by on the highway.
g. New railing along river – these were added recently as they were surplus from the
Gooseberry project. Great improvement both safety-wise and visually from previous
railings.
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Temperance River Wayside Design
Meeting Notes
November 19, 2012
h. Recent Improvements – DNR has recently done improvements to the site in terms of
handling runoff on SE side (pavement, water garden, rock placement), above mentioned
new railings, rebuilt stairs on SW side.
i. Potential future projects – DNR discussed possibility of an ADA accessible toilet and trail
accessible from the wayside. This would be on the SW side of the river. Also looking at
possibility of putting ADA accessible trail on SE side of river to allow access to river from
above (via campground and Gitchi Gami Trail)
7. Meeting Adjourned approximately 1 PM.
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