By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer
MADELIA —
Q: Monks Avenue is a busy, fast street. How are children who walk to school going to cross it to get to the new elementary school?
A: “It is a concern for us,” said Jerry Kolander, business manager for Mankato Area Public Schools.
The school district is working with Blue Earth County, which maintains the road, and with the city of Mankato on a crossing alternative. Kolander said they probably wouldn’t be able to get a stoplight here.
County Engineer Al Forsberg said he’s waiting for guidance from a city of Mankato staff committee, but personally prefers crossing guards.
Thinking back to when his children were young, he said youth can be “impetuous” and display poor judgment about when to cross the street.
Electronic warnings, like pedestrian-activated lights, have problems as well, Forsberg said.
“Certainly the best option is to provide human, adult safety guards.”
Q: When will they announce who’s going to play in the new bandshell in the park? When will the first concert be?
A: The opening of Riverfront Park gives the city-owned Verizon Wireless Civic Center a new venue for music and events.
The city is planning a weekly music in the park event as well as three paid concerts, Mankato City Manager Pat Hentges said.
“The details of that are being firmed up as we speak,” he said.
An announcement on the topic is coming near the end of April, he said.
A brief note: Ask Us needs your questions! E-mails and phone calls from readers are vastly preferable to questions solicited from the newsroom as these were.
Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, P.O. Box 3287, Mankato, MN 56002. Call Dan Linehan at 344-6355 or e-mail your question to dlinehan@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line. This Ask Us was compiled by Free Press staff writer Dan Linehan.
