The Bemidji City Council will hear an update on the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s plans for the Highway 197 project in their work session Monday.
According to the presentation included in the city packet, MnDOT isn’t officially requesting municipal approval until 2024.
This is the design second process for the project that was initially slated to begin within the next couple of years, but the 2018 Bemidji City Council voted against a plan that would add six roundabouts on Paul Bunyan Drive between Bemidji Avenue and the Menards entrance.
The preferred alternative of the community review panel, a group of local stakeholders that met monthly to discuss the project, includes a mix of signaled intersections with roundabouts placed at the Menard’s entrance, Middle School Drive, and Hannah Avenue.
