Is There a Problem With Driving in St. Cloud?
Spending time on St. Cloud area roads is something that most of us do on a regular basis. Today on WJON's 2-Cent Tuesday program I heard from many St. Cloud area residents who have a wide variety of reasons why driving in St. Cloud can be challenging. Reasons range from a feeling that the planning of Division Street (Highway 23) made it difficult to travel through the community because of the amount of stop lights. I fielded complaints from listeners that say the stop lights aren't coordinated well. Others feel there are too many distracted drivers due to texting. Some feel that the many people coming from small towns surrounding St. Cloud that aren't knowing where they are going is a problem and others blame the large immigrant population. Get our free mobile app  I've lived in St. Cloud since the fall of 1994. At that time I heard complaints about St. Cloud drivers and that trend has continued off and on despite many changes to the population and city leadership. In my experience driving in the Twin Cities is much more challenging than in St. Cloud. A listener said she lived here since 1993 and says her relative who was a truck driver considered St. Cloud to be the worst place to drive. The City of St. Cloud and surrounding area has often talked about a western connection to allow residents and those wanting to move through St. Cloud quicker that option. Highway Ten to the east and north and Interstate 94 to the south offer options to move quickly around the metro are but many are forced to either take Highway 23 or Highway 15 through the community needing to navigate numerous stop lights. The City of St. Cloud is also looking to help traffic flow by adding a bridge across 33rd street south near the compost site to the east side of the Mississippi River. The 2-hour 2-Cent Tuesday program is available to listen to below.