Speed Gibson

I was just in "downtown" Maple Grove, found we were too late to get into Claddagh's Irish Pub, it being St. Patrick's Day. So, we went over to Houlihan's, normally good, but today featuring Oscar Mayer quality corned beef & cabbage.

The extra traffic made the many flaws in this area apparent. As a retired, nearly ten year veteran of my city's Planning Commission, I sure would like to have seen what went on before the Maple Grove Planning Commission and City Council. It looks to me like the developers rolled the city early on, setting precedent the later developers used to advantage.

The parking is inadequate in many locations, and much of it is awkwardly laid out. There are many dead ends where you cannot see far enough in to see if there's an opening until you overshoot. If you gamble and it's full, you have to carefully back out or execute a mulit-stage U-turn.

Entrances and exits are not intuitive. Much of Best Buy's traffic passes right in front of Linens N Things front door; I fear someone is going to get run over. And just because you see the building you want, don't assume you can just take the next turn or exit. It may already be too late, forcing a long loop back around.

I'm all for the "invisible hand" of free enterprise. But there is also a role for the "invisible foot" in providing adequate, consistent parking, landscaping, setbacks, lighting, and traffic flow.

Maybe some of this will be fixed as the area fills out, but you aspiring city planners out there should take a good look here at what not to do.