Chisholm, Minnesota
The city of Chisholm has called a Nov. 16 forum with people from neighboring towns and townships to discuss the rerouting of St. Louis County Highway 5 for mining expansion at Hibbing Taconite.
In a post that inspired robust conversation in the comments section, we talked about the fact that Chisholm was questioning the county/mine plan while Hibbing essentially rubber-stamped it.
Marie Tolonen of the Chisholm Tribune-Press, in an article that also appeared in other Range papers, describes the situation thusly:
The council has been championing for an alternative route to that being proposed by St. Louis County, which is to direct traffic from Highway 5 to points west on Highway 169 to County Road 136 to an area near the Ironman statue.
Borne out of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, the council favors its proposal, which calls for traffic to be rerouted from Highway 5 via Highway 84 to Highway 73.
The council and commissioners are concerned that future mining along Highway 169 between Chisholm and Hibbing could cut off east to west traffic flow into town.
Both Hibbing Taconite and the City of Hibbing support the county’s plan because it is the least expensive, shorter for commuters and could be completed within the mining company’s timeline to expand its mining operations by Jan. 1, 2017.
The public information meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. at the Chisholm Senior Center.
The folks at Keyboard liquor in Chisholm will be happy for all the traffic going north on 73. Will make travel between Hibbing and Side Lake a bit more lengthy but over all not too big of a deal.