According to the city's engineers, the walk across Main Street at City Hall Street is currently about 80 feet. Shortening it is one of the main goals of the downtown street work planned for next summer.
The project is part of the city's 2027 Road Bond. It covers Lakers Lane, Church Street, City Hall Street and part of Nisswa Avenue, and Church Street work extends north to Birch Street. Nearly every major choice so far, from where a roundabout goes to how many parking stalls the blocks gain, was settled around one question. How do people actually move on foot through downtown Nisswa when it's crowded?
The intersection that stayed an intersection
Widseth, the city's engineering firm, studied two designs for Main Street and City Hall Street. One was a mini roundabout. The other was a conventional intersection with pedestrian refuge islands and channelized traffic. Business owners, the historical society and the operators of The Pickle Bar mostly opposed the roundabout. A traffic circle there would also have cost more parking, because of the turning radius it needs. The engineers recommended the conventional design with narrower travel lanes, refuge islands to shorten that 80-foot crossing, and defined turning movements. Those turn lanes respond to the erratic driving that stakeholders had named as a safety concern.
The Public Works Committee's discussion, recorded in the May 11, 2026 minutes, shows what decided it. Committee Member Stachour said he likes roundabouts in general but called one wrong for this corner. The minutes summarize his reasoning as concern about downtown's pedestrian activity:
with people crossing streets in unpredictable locations on busy days
A resident made a similar point. They said the wide-open intersection invites U-turns and erratic driving, and that clearer channelization would make it safer for both drivers and pedestrians.
So the plan for downtown's busiest corner is to make it narrower and more predictable, with places to stop halfway across, rather than to keep traffic moving nonstop.
The roundabout planned for the school corner
The plan still includes a roundabout, just at a different corner. A traffic circle was proposed separately for Church Street and Lakers Lane, next to Nisswa Elementary, and the committee supported moving ahead with it. By the committee's Aug. 27 meeting, City Engineer Dave Reese described it as the preferred outcome after talks with the school district and nearby property owners. Lighting and pedestrian safety features are planned for that area.
The design work at the school corner also centered on people on foot:
- Crosswalks pushed back from the circle. Stachour suggested moving them about 30 feet out, so people aren't crossing directly through turning traffic. Reese said final design would address it.
- Refuge islands sized for pausing. The raised island in the middle of the crossing has to meet minimum width standards for pedestrians who need to stop partway.
- Lakers Lane rebuilt west to Woodale Street. Widseth's preliminary scope includes curb and gutter, storm sewer, adjusted property entrances and parking, intersection lighting, and ADA crossings and ramps.
Widseth also recommended that the city and ISD 181 sign separate construction contracts. A heavy highway contractor suits the street work, while the school's site and facility improvements need a commercial building contractor.
Sidewalks that finally connect, and more parking
The sidewalk plan grows out of the same attention to people on foot. Parks and Recreation Director Amber tied the work to the city's 2023 Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which set a goal of a walkable downtown loop of roughly 15 minutes connecting the major destinations.
Right now that loop has gaps. A property owner told the committee the city sidewalk ends at their building. The private sidewalk beyond it is more than 40 years old and out of alignment. The concept plans would fix several of these gaps:
- City Hall Street gets a continuous sidewalk from where it currently ends to Church Street. Adding diagonal or parallel parking on the east side would gain an estimated 20-plus stalls.
- Church Street gets sidewalks on both sides to the end of the St. Christopher's parking lot, then a single sidewalk to the Poplar Avenue intersection.
- Lakers Lane has an option for sidewalks on both sides from the school-area traffic circle back toward Main Street. The committee told Widseth to create that option, but it has not been confirmed as part of the build.
This is the same parking math that settled the Main Street corner. A roundabout there would have taken stalls away, while the City Hall Street plan adds more than 20.
Some of the work will be harder to see. The city expects stormwater from the Main Street and City Hall Street intersection to go to a sediment pond at the north end of the Pickle parking lot. Church Street drainage would go to a pond at the north end of the St. Christopher's lot, and drainage from the school roundabout would go to the Lakers Lane ditch that runs down to County 18.
What the streetlight budget would cover
Streetscaping is the least settled part of the project, and the first part to come with a price. At the Aug. 27 meeting, Reese described about 20 decorative streetlights for the corridor. He estimated $15,000 to $20,000 per light, including the fixture, pedestal, conduit and electrical work. That puts lighting alone at roughly $300,000 to $400,000. The committee called those costs significant and said final scope decisions would need to fit the budget.
The same discussion covered banner and planter attachments on the lights, benches, downtown wayfinding signs, and Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at crosswalks. Chair Zahn said streetscaping matters for public safety and nighttime visibility, not only for looks. At a May 27 work session, which had no quorum and took no formal action, ideas included sponsored planters or flower baskets and light poles that could hold banners, planters and seasonal decorations. The city says it is forming an advisory committee to review streetscape options and report back to Public Works and the City Council. Committee members also suggested a new online survey of residents and an alert system for project updates.
From now through Sept. 30, 2027
As of the Aug. 27 meeting, the plans were at 60% design and moving into easement acquisition. The Council had authorized the city attorney and an appraiser to start that process. Reese said most of the work falls on city-owned public property. Private easements are needed mainly for curb and gutter, storm sewer, sidewalks and streetscape elements.
The city's 2027 Road Bond page and its Public Works calendar set out these milestones:
- Oct. 28, 2026. Public Works Committee meeting. The Sept. 30 meeting, which had a road bond update on the agenda, was canceled for lack of a quorum.
- Nov. 10, 2026. Public Information Meeting on the 2027 road projects.
- February 2027. Bidding.
- March 2027. Construction contract award.
- June 1, 2027. Tree clearing finished.
- Sept. 30, 2027. Construction complete.
So the heavy work falls in summer 2027, downtown's busiest stretch. When a business owner worried that both key intersections might close at once, the minutes record that phasing and access would be worked out in final engineering. Widseth's preliminary report recommends contract terms that keep one of the two intersections open. That would preserve access to the business district and surrounding homes.
The road work near Grand View Lodge is on a separate track. In a June 8 staff report, the city said it expects to do that work in 2028 and is still working with the resort on stormwater pond locations and construction staging, so Grand View can keep operating while the roads are rebuilt.
Still undecided
Several decisions remain open as of mid-October 2026:
- Final 100% plans
- Whether the Lakers Lane sidewalk option is built
- What the streetscape committee recommends
- A construction staging plan for downtown merchants
- An overall project cost
The city's public records don't yet include any of these. The Nov. 10 meeting is the next scheduled chance to see where the drawings stand, especially at Main and City Hall Street.
Amanda follows Nisswa's downtown planning because changes like these shape everyday life on Main Street and the value of the blocks around it. If you have questions about how the 2027 work could affect a property near City Hall Street, Church Street or Lakers Lane, Amanda Lumley is happy to talk it through. Schedule a consultation.
