WINONA, Minn. – New City Council member Aaron Repinski was the spoiler for a proposal to cut the Broadway thoroughfare from four to three lanes. Repinski voted against the proposal, creating a 3-3 deadlock. In June the Council voted 4-3 to move forward with the project, but the Council makeup was shuffled in the November election. The proposal was recommended originally by safety experts, but the community has been split, and Council sentiment has kept shifting over months of discussion.

Science v. convenience

People have been vociferous in letters to the editor for and against the Broadway proposal, which has been characterized as the Broadway Diet, reducing the street from four lanes down to three. Largely missing in the dialogue has been counter-evidence on the safety rationale advanced by experts. Mayor Scott Sherman, who favors the Diet, has come closest to generating data on public sentiment. Sherman said he received 55 emails recently with 54 supporting the project. Whatever the numbers, Sherman said: “I look at this as a safety issue — not an inconvenience issue. Inconvenience will never outweigh a human life.” Repinski, on other hand, has taken more of a wet finger in the wind approach without generating demonstrable data: “After discussing with hundreds of individuals in town here, I don’t believe I can vote in good conscience for this knowing that the majority of Winona citizens are not in favor.”

Finances

Engineering work for the Broadway Diet has cost $300,000 and is 90% complete. The two city has two grants, $1 million and $900,000, to proceed. The grants would need to be returned if the city scraps the project.