Editor’s Notebook: New MnDOT Garage Sticks Out Too Much, Mayor Says

Mayor Wants MnDOT to Screen its Garage: A new salt storage garage on along Highway 5 between Hadley Avenue and Interstate 694 is, “an eyesore,” Oakdale Mayor Carmen Sarrack said at last Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Sarrack asked if city staff could somehow contact or write a letter to MnDOT officials asking them to plant trees or do something to screen the garage, which is visible from the interstate and the surrounding streets.

“We really don’t appreciate how that building looks to our citizens or passersby on the 494/694 corridor,” Sarrack said.

Oakdale Community Development Director Bob Streetar said that in the past, MnDOT officials have said they don’t have to comply with city building codes. A representative from MnDOT could not be reached for comment.

County Gives Preliminary OK To Stop Lights on 10th Street: Washington County transportation officials have said they could give conditional support to placing traffic lights on 10th Street at the entrance to Bergen Plaza and Tartan Crossing (the former Oakdale Mall site) rather than adding lights at 11th Street and Hadley Avenue as originally planned, Oakdale Community Development Director Bob Streetar said at last Tuesday’s Oakdale City Council meeting. The intersection might have to be reconfigured and shifted to the west, Streetar said.