Argenta Trail realignment threatens Inver Grove Heights neighborhood

Chad and Christine Hagman knew when they moved in to their Inver Grove Heights home that the farmland behind it wouldn't be there forever. What they didn't know was that the house might not be there forever, either.

The Hagmans, who bought the house on Argenta Trail more than a decade ago, are one of several families that may lose their homes to a road realignment project. Up to 10 houses could be acquired by Dakota County and the city through eminent domain, depending on which design is chosen for realigning Argenta Trail.

"I still can't even fathom that they would actually vote to ruin a whole neighborhood just to put a road through," Chad Hagman said.

The road project is a joint effort between the city and the county. The City Council is set to vote Feb. 23 to select one of five options for the realignment, all of which move and expand the roadway to connect Hwy. 55 and Interstate 494. The County Board will likely weigh in during March.

The road project is intended to meet transportation needs in the growing region — everywhere from Inver Grove Heights to Eagan to Rosemount, said Inver Grove Heights City Administrator Joe Lynch.

"Growth in general is going to occur in those areas, and if you're living in one of those houses, you're going to want to get north, south, east and west from your location," he said. "And most of the current system that we have in place isn't going to be able to handle that."

Cost estimates for the realignment designs range from $6.2 million to $10.2 million, much of which will go to acquiring right of way. Some designs would interfere with thousands of feet of power lines and take out pieces of nearby wetlands. All five include at least one home acquisition, and three include four or more.

This stretch of Argenta Trail is a place where families tend to stay. There are bonfires and hikes in summer and hockey games on cold winter nights, keeping neighbors out late on a homemade rink.

Lately, there's been a new addition to the vast, snowy front lawns: signs scrawled with red and black slogans like "Don't destroy our homes" and "We've made our case."

Kyle Van, who bought his first home in September, grew up in the neighborhood and leapt at the opportunity to return when he learned of a vacancy. But until he finds out how long he'll be able to stay, plans for getting settled have been pushed to the back burner.

"Buying your first house is supposed to be an exciting, fun project that you're supposed to look forward to doing, and I haven't been able to enjoy any of that," he said. "It's just been a fight to keep the house."

Residents have joined to push for running the roadway through the farmland behind the Hagmans' house — a design that would involve just one acquisition.

"We did all of our planning to hopefully not have that be the case," Deanovic said. "We have some significant wetlands there and basins that are important, so we took great care to avoid those."

Of all the Argenta Trail realignment designs, those that would take out the most existing homes would impact Blackstone Ridge the least. The option favored by residents would reduce Deanovic's developable land by 19 acres.

The city has struggled to spur development in the area where the Blackstone houses would be located. It invested $13 million in water and sewer infrastructure in 2008 in anticipation of future growth, and has continued to pay debt service on that infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, the economy went south and the growth didn't occur for a number of years," Lynch said. "But it's ready to go."

Emma Nelson • 952-746-3287