Final word on the 371 overpass

GUEST EDITORIAL

When Baxter votes on the 371 overpass, municipal consent should mean something.

MATT KILIAN, PRESIDENT

Brainerd Lakes Chamber of Commerce

Next Tuesday, the Baxter City Council will vote on municipal consent for the proposed Highway 371 overpass design—the final yes or no that determines whether the buttonhook becomes reality.

Some believe a road project is only about concrete, lanes and traffic counts. It is not.

Roads shape behavior. They shape where people go, where they stop, what they avoid, what becomes convenient, and what becomes a hassle. Over time, those small choices add up and they change the future of a community.

At the heart of the debate is a fundamental disagreement over the purpose of the road. MNDOT tends to treat Highway 371 as an expressway, designed to quickly move people through town. We believe it functions as Baxter’s Main Street, the place where commerce happens, where businesses grow, and where community life plays out.

That friction is why public opinion is so important.

Minnesota’s municipal consent law exists for one important reason. It gives residents a seat at the table before any permanent design is locked in.

Our Chamber commissioned a scientific poll of Baxter residents to learn where the community stands ahead of this important decision—not to compel anyone to vote a certain way, but to measure public confidence before a decision is made.

The poll results are not ambiguous. Residents oppose the buttonhook design at least 2 to 1, and 86 percent favor changes or a different approach. That kind of agreement doesn’t happen very often. It is not one group or one worldview. It is a broad cross-section of people doing their research and arriving at the same conclusion.

We all heard these concerns in person. More than 300 people attended the October public hearing, which grew so big it was moved to Forestview Middle School. Minnesotans don’t trade a perfect fall night for a government meeting unless the stakes are high and they believe their voice matters.

More than 240 businesses have also spoken out against the buttonhook design. They know when visibility, access and traffic patterns change, customers are not guaranteed. They see the buttonhook as an avoidable risk.

To be clear, our business owners don’t have an irrational fear of change. They deal with change every day and adapt constantly. They take risks, create jobs, pay taxes and give back. They have proven themselves to be incredibly resilient, but they should not be the ones left to absorb the consequences of a design that can still be improved.

And with all due respect, no one is in a position to proclaim that every business will simply adapt and be fine, especially when it’s not their livelihood on the line.

At this point, a common argument shows up. “So, where’s your plan? If you can’t produce the perfect alternative, then the buttonhook should move forward by default.”

That’s backwards.

Projects like this are way too complex for most citizens and local businesses to play the role of armchair engineers. That doesn’t disqualify their concerns.

The question is not whether our community can design a functional interchange. The question is whether our community is comfortable with the plan being proposed. The burden is not on citizens to engineer the solution. The burden is on the engineers to earn their consent.

Some will argue that engineering standards and traffic models should settle the question. Yes, they do matter. Efficiency matters. Safety absolutely matters. The engineers involved are professionals, and we respect their work.

But no one can prove, in advance, how such an unusual design with multiple ramps and roundabouts will impact Baxter once it’s built. Models can estimate traffic. They cannot guarantee outcomes. Municipal consent is the checkpoint before consequences become permanent.

And here is where the truth becomes uncomfortable.

With these large projects, the state agency usually wins. The process, the calendar, the money and the momentum all favor the institution with the most staff and the most time. That’s not a conspiracy theory. It’s just how large systems work.

That’s also why the community response has been persistent, organized, and at times, fierce. In a large system, quiet concern is easy to file away and move past. The Chamber has been direct because this is an irreversible decision, and because too many people from too many walks of life have raised the same concerns to let them be treated as background noise.

Time and again, MNDOT has stated that withholding consent could put $58-plus million in project funding at risk. That is serious, and no one should pretend otherwise. But it cannot become a veto over local judgment.

A no vote on municipal consent is not anti-progress. It is not anti-safety. It is not anti-MNDOT. It is the city doing its job and insisting on a design that earns public confidence and protects Baxter’s future.

That insistence matters because changes are still possible. Funding cycles come and go. Designs can be revised. But once an interchange is built, its impacts are locked in for decades. There is no “undo” button.

I know the past eight months have taken a toll on Baxter’s City Council members, business owners, MNDOT and city staff, and the entire community. It has been heavy for me as well. But a heavy process is not a reason to rush a permanent decision.

The City Council’s vote is not about giving in to whoever pushed the hardest or argued the best. It’s about whether Baxter will sign off on a risky design that has not earned public confidence.

Municipal consent is the one moment that gives elected leaders real authority. On Tuesday, I hope the council uses that authority the way it was intended.

Not as a rubber stamp, but to get it right.