Council to consider request to close Main Street on a Thursday

The Rice Lake Main Street Association is asking the city to close Main Street to vehicle traffic on a Thursday afternoon and evening for a fall festival in September, but the Community Services Department is balking.

The Association has filed a street use application for its Rice Lake Fall Fest to be held from 3-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19, on Main Street between Marshall and Messenger streets. The request is on the City Council agenda for its Tuesday regular meeting.

Community Services Director Jim Anderson has informed the board that by closing off Main Street, people who attend the event will have no place to park, the event occurs during rush hour and at the beginning of the school year, and a traffic control plan including a detour route will have to be drafted.

“Large-scale road closures and detours come with a price tag — it is estimated that this request will cost the city somewhere in the neighborhood of $3,300,” Anderson noted in the city packet.

The Community Services director also commented that cars parked on Main Street during the event will not be able to safely leave.

“The city approves and makes the affected department absorb the cost for several street closure events each year,” Anderson noted. “For this department we spend about $27,000 of in-kind services for special events the council approves. Most cities charge groups that request a road closure, such as the one being requested, for actual cost.”

The Main Street Association also hopes to receive approval to close Main Street between Evans and Water streets from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, for its Halloween event.