The Drive: Political sign-wavers over I-494 are legal but distracting

We're in the home stretch of the political campaign season, and for some Drive readers the Nov. 8 election can't arrive soon enough.

Besides being bombarded with vitriolic advertisements on TV and radio at home, commuters have encountered fervent supporters of candidates — and presumably detractors, too — standing on bridge decks waving political signs and tying up traffic in the process.

Paula from Orono waited until after 6 p.m. on a recent Thursday to make the trip home from Eagan, hoping to avoid the rush hour snarl that often develops on the I-494 Bloomington strip. But as she approached Nicollet Avenue, traffic came to a crawl.

At first, she thought the bottleneck would loosen after she passed a fender bender on the right shoulder, "but the traffic didn't open up like it normally would after the gawker visual range was passed. Then it became clear what was causing the late traffic jam; people standing on the pedestrian bridge above the freeway waving political signs. Waving signs is not going to convert anyone, it's only going to make the whole process even more painful. Traffic is wearying enough on its own driving through the Bloomington 494 corridor without any added distractions."

In an e-mail that landed in the Drive's inbox, she asked whether she could call 911 to report them and if there is an ordinance, like causing a public nuisance, that police could use to disperse them.

Well, Paula, you could call if you believe there is a concern for public safety and officers will respond and review the situation, said Denis Otterness, deputy chief of the Bloomington Police Department. But in this case police had no grounds to tell the campaigners to stop.

That's because the First Amendment protects a person's right to wave the signs, said Cmdr. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office. "Police could not disperse a group of people holding political signs for being a nuisance if they are lawfully on the sidewalk or public space."

"If being a nuisance were the ruler that judged legality, there would be no lawful protest of any kind allowed on or near a roadway," said Paul Hoppe, police chief in Wyoming, Minn.

Unlike the summer protests that shut down I-35W and I-94 in the wake of the police shootings of Jamar Clark and Philando Castile, the political supporters were on public property and did not engage in criminal behavior.

"If the assembly were to take place on the actual interstate where laws prohibit pedestrians, or the assembly physically inhibits the flow of traffic on roadways designed for vehicle traffic — both of which would constitute criminal behavior — the assembly would then be considered a non-peaceful assembly," Hoppe said.

The real issue boils down to driver distraction as motorists slow down to read the signs or focus on the activities of the people holding them rather than piloting their vehicles.

"This time of year has its challenges with increased campaign signs scattered along our roadways adding to driver distractions," Hoppe said. "Remember, stay focused and stay safe when operating a motor vehicle."