Breaking News: No parking approved on controversial road by BP High School

After months of controversy, the Steele County Board in a split vote on Tuesday approved “no parking” on County Road 46 near Blooming Prairie High School. The ban was made in a 3-2 vote with commissioners John Glynn and James Brady opposing it.

Blooming Prairie area resident Tom Peterson has been fighting since last year for the county to ban parking on the roadway which is located next to several ball fields and attracts an excessive number of vehicles during game events. The problem is that the roadway was designed decades ago and is narrow with little to no shoulder space. Peterson claimed that the road is dangerous with pedestrians moving in between parked vehicles.

At Tuesday’s board meeting, Ronnie Thorson of Blooming Prairie spoke about how his 2-year-old grandson was nearly hit last summer. “I came within a second of picking up my living grandson—to picking up a dead one,” he said.

County staff had recommended banning parking only on one side of the roadway. However, commissioners went the extra step by issuing a total parking ban.