Roundabout or lay-a-roundabout?

To the Editor:

Since the State decided to exercise their totalitarian authority and dictate “safety” measures, Kasson is getting three roundabouts strongly opposed by the community. Two were supposed to be finished last year. The construction company blamed COVID supply chain problems in Summer/Fall 2022. They should have just told us their kids had a doctor’s appointment. Blaming COVID in late 2022 is an admission that it was definitely something else. Perhaps they wanted to lock in the contracts and bit off more than they could chew. I live a block off of Mantorville Avenue and would go on walks and not see a soul out there. I guess COVID was really bad for the supply chain those days. I’m going on the same walks this year. I suppose it’s hard to staff all 3 projects at once when you need 2 people to watch 1 person work. This year I’ve seen some lights on in the machines. They weren’t moving and no one was in them but at least the lights were blinking. Maybe all the workers had COVID.

I suppose it wouldn’t be so frustrating if the city didn’t block off every major traffic route simultaneously. The construction crew could barely get one job done last year so why do they think they can get three done this year? What if COVID re-surges? There is an election coming. Maybe they should only commit to two things and leave more reasonable traffic routes instead of taking three plates from the buffet when barely finishing one last year.

Furthermore, did the state consider they have planned two roundabouts approximately 50 yards from each other with railroad tracks in between? When a train comes it will back up traffic in 8 directions. These grifting geniuses will probably propose a train-track roundabout. The ‘mini’ roundabout replacing the stoplight is designed for the semi-trucks to drive over, this seems like a recipe for disaster. How will the oncoming cars not be confused when they are following traffic laws and a semi emerges in the middle. It won’t be the semi’s fault. They are going to have to re-design drivers-ed courses statewide.

Money, Money. Money. That’s what this is about. Kasson’s traffic was perfectly safe. At best maybe 1 roundabout would have sufficed. Three is slacker grift. It’s reminiscent of the classic film Falling Down where Michael Douglas questions a road construction crew, paraphrasing, “There was nothing wrong with this road, they need to spend the money so they don’t decrease the budget next year, I’ll give you something to fix.” He proceeds to blow up the road with a rocket launcher. There will be no rocket launchers in Kasson, but there will certainly be accidents with all the roundabout confusion the state has designed.

Terry Hawkins

Kasson