Senate OKs road for Mondale

Some people get buildings named after them. Some get cities. Former Vice President Walter Mondale, one of the most influential politicians in Minnesota history, will get a small stretch of road that climbs the hill in West Duluth.

Walter F. Mondale Drive will be a little over 3 miles long, part of it winding through a working-class neighborhood on Duluth's West End, a long way from Mondale's boyhood homes in towns near the Iowa border and his long-time residence in Minneapolis.

But the ex-vice president and DFL elder statesman says the proposed designation of the stretch of Hwy. 53 in his honor is fitting, proper and "a nice thing to do. I always loved Duluth."I didn't know anything about it [the designation] until a couple weeks ago and it really is a surprise," he said.

"Duluth has been a cultural and political center for my career, and I always got big support out of there," he said.

The state Senate on Monday voted unanimously to designate the winding grade between Interstate Hwy. 35 and the Miller Hill Mall after Mondale, a dominant figure in Minnesota and national politics over the last half century.

The House also is expected to pass the measure, and a spokesman for GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Monday that he will sign the bill "in yet another sign of bipartisan support."

Whimsical process

Mondale served one term as vice president under Jimmy Carter, and was a leading U.S. senator, Minnesota attorney general and most recently ambassador to Japan under the Clinton administration.

He was the Democratic presidential nominee in 1984, losing to Republican Ronald Reagan, narrowly carrying only Minnesota and the District of Columbia. He lost a close election to Sen. Norm Coleman as an emergency fill-in candidate to replace U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone after Wellstone's death 10 days before the 2002 election.

Efforts two years ago by Republicans to memorialize Reagan, by naming the State Office Building or the I-494/694 beltway after him, went nowhere. DFLers at the time noted that Minnesota was the only state that never voted for Reagan.

The honorary name game is a somewhat whimsical and random process. There is no comprehensive set of state policies or regulations for the naming of public facilities, said John Bray, special assistant to the Department of Transportation' Duluth district.

"There is no process; all you do is contact a legislator and they take it from there," Bray said.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon, DFL-Duluth, said the idea originated with former Duluth Police Chief and Mondale friend Eli Miletich. Prettner Solon said she and the House sponsor, Mike Jaros, DFL-Duluth, thought it was appropriate because of Mondale's strong ties to the region, the home of some of his closest friends, including former U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Heaney and the late Frank Befera.

A road with many names

Mondale added jokingly that the last attempt to memorialize him failed.

Republicans a few years ago objected to a proposal to erect a statue of Mondale on the State Capitol grounds, arguing that it would be improper to do that in his lifetime.

"Republicans said it would be fine if I would just 'cooperate,' " Mondale said.

The road would be one of the most repetitiously named thoroughfares in the state.

The four-lane 3.6-mile section of Hwy 53 climbs out of Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood and snakes up the city's steep hillside. It offers panoramic views of St. Louis Bay and, in the distance, Superior, Wis.

Near the hilltop, the road then passes Enger Golf Course, crosses Miller Creek and passes Lake Superior College. It finally levels out in the aptly named Duluth Heights before intersecting the Miller Highway to the Iron Range.

The route follows the city's Piedmont Avenue and Trinity Road, but homes and business there would not change their addresses, Prettner Solon said.

The Mondale section is also named Voyageur Highway. The honorary designations cannot be financed with state funds, so Duluth is picking up the minimal cost of posting signs, Prettner Solon said.

The lower portion of Hwy. 53 has been dramatically transformed in recent years with a $27 million upgrade that includes park areas, a waterfall and pedestrian underpasses.

"It's absolutely beautiful, a classic example of context-sensitive construction, and the community was very involved in the design phase," Bray said.

Staff writer Larry Oakes contributed to this report. Dane Smith • 651-292-0164 • rdsmith@startribune.com