Underpass completion recognized at event

Some walked, while others rolled up on bicycles, in-line skates and mobility scooters. All the major user groups of Hutchinson’s new $1.6-million underpass beneath State Highway 7 gathered Tuesday at its south portal to Oddfellows Park for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

They learned the underpass didn’t just happen because the Minnesota Department of Transportation rebuilt Highway 7. No, the idea had its gestation 15 years earlier when the city studied its future “light traffic” needs, Parks and Recreation Director Dolf Moon told the approximately 50 people at the event.

“In 1993, (then city engineer) John Rodeberg and myself submitted a project to the state (seeking a study grant) to create a bike-friendly community,” Moon said. A community focus group identified the nearby Highway 7/School Road intersection as the most dangerous in Hutchinson for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Now residents in northwest Hutchinson can hop on a bike, ride along the low-traffic volume Shady Ridge Road, and pass through four underpasses to get to the municipal ball field (at Tartan Park), Moon said.

“We are excited about it,” he added.

Read more in the Sept. 4 Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)