Q: I am really disturbed by the neglect of the dog park. The weeds are 4 feet high and there are very few dogs. Why is it being neglected so that it can not be used for the dogs. There are big branches also lying around.
Who’s taking care of it?
A: Mankato’s municipal dog park, in the Kiwanis Recreation Area between Highway 169 and the Minnesota River, gives dog owners a chance to cut the canines loose without a leash in fenced-in areas. Traditionally, the city has tried to offer a smaller piece of land nearest to the parking lot, along with a larger dog exercise area closer to the river.
The park has generally received good reviews from dog owners and, based on nonverbal communication, from visiting pooches. But much of the Kiwanis Recreation Area’s landscape — particularly the lower-elevation exercise area and the trail system — is vulnerable to flooding from the nearby river, which has caused periodic damage from water flow and deposits of huge amounts of silt and floating debris. That was definitely the case with the major flooding in late June of 2024.
Still, when conditions allow, the park is regularly maintained, said Mankato’s interim Director of Public Works Karl Keel.
“Mowing at the dog park is scheduled once a week during the summer,” Keel said. “Occasionally, as was the case earlier in the year, rain makes the area too soft to support mowing equipment and mowing needs to be postponed.”
Q: Why do the traffic lights at Balcerzak Drive and Victory Drive have a left-turn arrow? Two of the traffic lights (turning on to Victory) feature a left-turn arrow when it doesn’t apply at this intersection. Did someone order the wrong traffic lights? It makes no sense.
A: For those who don’t travel through that T-intersection, here’s the situation: Eastbound drivers on Balcerzak have to decide between a right-only turn lane and a left-only turn lane at Victory because Balcerzak ends there.
So, as the reader notes, Balcerzak drivers receive all the information they need from a basic red-yellow-green signal light at Victory that tells them when they need to stop and when they can go. But there’s also a second signal to the left of that traffic light offering red, yellow, flashing-yellow and green left-turn arrows.
Keel points out that the second set of signals may not be necessary, but both sets work to inform drivers about what they can and can’t do.
“It is true that Balcerzak does not extend past Victory and the left-turn arrows that exist there are not as useful as they are at typical four-legged intersections,” Keel said. “That said, there is a marked left-turn lane on Balcerzak, and the presence of turn arrows make it clear to motorists in the turn lane that they are able to proceed. Such arrows at intersections such as this, especially ones with higher traffic volumes, are common.”
It’s possible, too, that whoever ordered the traffic lights did so with an eye to the future. The Mankato-North Mankato Area Transportation Organization’s long-range plan, approved five years ago and known as MAPO 2045, listed an eastward extension of Balcerzak among the possible “future corridor expansion projects.”
The idea was to extend Balcerzak past Victory Drive into the residential area south of East High School. That area includes some undeveloped private land and more than 18 acres of vacant city-owned land, some of which is being considered for development as a neighborhood park.
So if Balcerzak is ever extended past Victory, the left-turn arrows at that intersection would be useful for left-turning traffic on eastbound Balcerzak and on the new segment of westbound Balcerzak.
Contact Ask Us at The Free Press, 418 S. Second St., Mankato, MN 56001. Call Mark Fischenich at 344-6321 or email your question to mfischenich@mankatofreepress.com; put Ask Us in the subject line.