The New Ulm City Council reversed a decision to add a median to the redesign of North Garden Street from Center Street to 5th North. The new plan is to add bump outs to the intersections with the exception of 4th North. It was decided a bump out was not needed at this intersection due to limited pedestrian crossings.

NEW ULM – The New Ulm City Council pulled a U-turn on the Garden Street redesign, Tuesday.

Last month the council voted to move forward with road redesign for North Garden from Harman Park to 5th North that would include a median in the road.

Two concept plans for the road redesign were created. Both designs reduced the roadway to 44 feet and added additional boulevard space. The first design had no median, but featured a wider boulevard. The second layout had an 8-foot median between the driving lanes.

City Manager Chris Dalton briefly suggested a third hybrid option that would not include a median strip, but would feature extra bump outs at different intersections to add extra safety crossings.

The majority of the council preferred the redesign with a median. Only Council President Andrea Boettger voted against the median. Boettger and Mayor Kathleen Backer favored the hybrid option but there was not enough support from the full council.

Following the initial approval of the median layout, the city received push back on this decision from residents from the North Garden neighborhood. The council chose to reconsider the different layout options, including the hybrid option with additional bump outs.

Councilor Eric Warmka said the issue warranted reconsideration based on the amount of people who reached out to the city since then. Warmka initially voted for the median but said he was not too proud to review alternative ideas and wanted to hear from residents.

Multiple N. Garden Street residents addressed the council during the meeting. Wes Ludewig said he liked the bump out ideas better than the center median. He said there were 13 people on that street with driveways that would be impacted. In addition, there are some people without access to their alleys and only have the driveway. Ludewig also had concerns about parking during snow events. He believed with the excessive wind on Garden, there would be drifting problems.

As for the safety issues, he believed the street was already being narrowed by 15 feet. A median was likely not needed based on this reduction.

Mary Millerbernd, another N. Garden Street resident, was against the median. She was worried the median would make it difficult for bicycles to navigate the street by narrowing it.

Joe Blickem said he was out of town when the initial decision was made. He said the median would impact how he backs out of his driveway onto Garden Street.

Cindy Blickem said she is aware of the traffic issues on the street, but was concerned few of the intersections are marked for pedestrians. She was also worried a median would create parking problems for visitors. People visiting Garden Street typically park on the street, but the median would limit this problem.

Warmka said the consensus was most residents were against the median. He asked if the council had a preference for the first layout option or the hybrid option with bump outs.

City Engineer Joseph Stadheim informed the council if they did choose the hybrid option with bump outs, that no bump out would be placed at 4th N. and Garden. Stadheim said a driveway near that intersection could conflict with the bump out.

Boettger said she would be fine with not placing a bump out at 4th N. and Garden. She said most of the pedestrian crossings were at 1st North and 5th North.

Stadheim said the city tries to place bump outs where they are needed. Typically bump outs are adjacent to schools and near athletic sites. The idea is to focus on locations with higher pedestrian crossings. He said it was possible that pedestrian crossings could increase if a bump out were added, but compared it to signage.

“You don’t want over saturation because then they don’t become as important,” he said.

Councilor Tom Schmitz said 4th North ended at Garden Street, resulting in a three way intersection. For this reason he was willing to support this intersection differently and not add a bump out.

Warmka agreed a bump out at 4th North was not needed, but did support bump outs at 1st, 2nd and 3rd North to encourage drivers to slow down near Harman Park.

Councilor Larry Mack said he supported the median during the last meeting based on the feedback they received. He also liked the aesthetic look of it, but was willing to compromise with the bump out design.

“It’s a good idea to fix up a road that needs to be fixed and a good opportunity to make a change for the positive,” Warmka said. He made the motion to approve the hybrid design option for N. Garden Street, without a bump out at 4th N. The motion was seconded by Schmitz and was unanimously passed by the council.

Mayor Backer thanked residents who attended the meeting and signed a petition to reconsider the Garden Street layout.

“Our government is all about the people and participating,” she said. “I applaud the council for reopening this and giving an opportunity to revisit the different layouts.”

The reconstruction of N. Garden Street from Center to 5th N. is scheduled for the summer of 2027. The project will include water and storm sewer rehabilitation, upgraded lighting, a mini roundabout at the 5th North intersection and pedestrian safety improvements.

The city is scheduled to receive $3.5 million in federal grant through MnDOT’s to cover the majority of roadway reconstruction.