After about a year of discussion, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will revoke a road-use license with the city of East Gull Lake on a portion of East Gull Lake Drive, effective Dec. 1, 2025.
The affected road is about one-tenth of a mile of East Gull Lake Drive from Gull Lake Dam Road/Highway 125 to the entrance of the Gull Lake Recreation Area, just before the dam.
The Corps announced the license revocation in a news release Thursday, Jan. 17.
"The decision comes after emergency repairs were completed on this section of road in 2017, when multiple safety, maintenance, environmental and cultural impacts came to light," the release stated.
In a letter to the city of East Gull Lake, St. Paul District Corps of Engineers Director Col. Sam Calkins cited tribal, maintenance and safety concerns as reasons to close the road, including three vehicle crashes at the road's intersection with Gull Lake Dam Road in 2018, two of which proved fatal. The investigations into the deaths reported the vehicles involved in the fatal crashes drove straight off the Gull Lake Dam Road into the Gull River and did not occur on the portion of East Gull Lake Drive to be closed. Last year, officials reported they were working on a safety barrier at the site as a remedy. At the time, the sheriff's office stated records indicated there were two serious crashes at that location in the last 17 years.
ADVERTISEMENT
A summer 2018 traffic count showed an average of 1,400 cars use that portion of the road each day. In the summer, that average climbs to about 2,000 cars per day on busy weekends. That much traffic, the Corps' letter said, causes a significant safety concern for pedestrians going between the campground and the Corps' day-use area.
"By closing the affected portion of Gull Lake Dam Road to through traffic, a positive effect on traffic and pedestrian issues associated with the Gull Lake Dam Road/County Road (125) intersection may be achieved," Calkins' letter to the city stated.
It goes on to say closing the road to through traffic will reduce long-term maintenance impacts to the Corps' dam and bridge, constructed in 1911, which currently has oversized vehicles like semitrailers and dump trucks crossing on a routine basis.
"Closing the road to through traffic is also intended to address tribal concerns raised regarding the sacred tribal site that surrounds the roadway," the letter stated. "Five Native American tribes, with ties to this area, have requested the road be closed to vehicular traffic for preservation purposes. The sacred site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."
The Corps would not specify the five groups in question. A letter from the Cass County Board of Commissioners to Calkins in August said informal conversations between county officials and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe indicated the band was satisfied with the road as it is and believed the current configuration the least disruptive course of action to the area.
Thursday's news release quoted Calkins: "We've heard from community members impacted by this decision, which is why the road will remain open while city and county officials work to secure funding, design and construct an alternate roadway."
What's next?
East Gull Lake and Cass County are now tasked with finding an alternate for the road before December 2025, but Cass County Administrator Josh Stevenson isn't worried.
ADVERTISEMENT
"We're actually kind of pleased that the Corps has given us six years heads up," Stevenson said Thursday. "We feel that we'll be able to accommodate that as long as the Corps or federal government, which it sounds like they're talking about, is willing to pitch in and help with the cost of moving the road."
Stevenson equated rerouting the road to constructing other roads around cemeteries, which he said engineers do frequently.
"There's a reason why there's a big curve in the highway when you go along Rice,and it's to miss the cemetery," he said. "This is no different, it's just on a smaller scale."
Costs and routes for the future new road, which will be county owned, are still up in the air, though county and city officials are hopeful for state and federal funding. East Gull Lake City Administrator Rob Mason said he is working with Stevenson to determine funding sources as a next step, and Calkins' letter to East Gull Lake indicated the Corps will help search for funding as well.
In terms of design, engineers may already have a start. About 2000-01, Mason said East Gull Lake worked with Cass and Crow Wing counties to look into alternatives for the portion of road to be closed to see if an alternate route was feasible. Ultimately, the city, Mason said, didn't deem a new route necessary. A preliminary plan, however, was drawn up, which may be of some help now.
"This Corps decisions notification should result in an immediate call to action to implement the (previous) plan at this time," Calkins' letter to the city stated.
Background
The Corps' license with East Gull Lake to use and maintain this portion of East Gull Lake Drive dates back to 1926. The road lies on federal property and is under Corps stewardship. East Gull Lake is responsible for the road's maintenance.
ADVERTISEMENT
Concerns for the road came to light following an embankment landslide just upstream of the Gull Lake Dam in the fall of 2017. After the issue was remedied, the Corps realized its license with the city for the management of the road was outdated.
Then came the concern with the road's compatibility with the Army Corps' mission. During a public information meeting on the issue at East Gull Lake City Hall in July, Brian Turner, the Corps site lead at the Gull Lake Recreation Area, said the Corps' mission is recreation, environmental stewardship and flood reduction.
Lastly, Corps officials said tribal representatives requested the portion of the road to be permanently closed because of its proximity to sacred Native American burial grounds.
During the July meeting, several community members-both year-round and seasonal residents, as well as business owners-spoke in favor of keeping the road open. Many said they drove the road every day and would be negatively impacted by its closure. Ernie's on Gull owner Chris Foy said his business would suffer as well.
Since the July meeting, Calkins and the Corps met with tribal representatives, officials from Cass County and East Gull Lake, and other stakeholders to determine the road's future. In September, Calkins told the Dispatch the Corps' primary concern regarding the road centers around the dam, as it's important for flood control on both the lake and the river downstream of the lake. And if the road starts to fail, he said, the dam becomes endangered and could need difficult and costly repairs.
With the road's future closure now certain, Calkins said in his letter to East Gull Lake the Corps would like to work with the city and county to reduce the volume and type of traffic on the road between now and 2025 and improve pedestrian safety.
More information is available at https://tinyurl.com/gulllakeroad .
ADVERTISEMENT
