Stillwater may lower some speed limits to 25 mph, including downtown

Some speed limits may fall to 25 miles per hour on Stillwater's city roads, especially downtown, after a study suggesting it would make the city safer.

The City Council heard the study details at a workshop session last week. Three years of citywide crash data ending in 2022 showed 252 crashes — half on city roads and half on county and state roads. None were fatal, according to the data.

Of the crashes on local city streets, about a quarter caused injuries. The other crashes caused only property damage. Two crashes involved pedestrians and two involved bicycles. Citywide, most crashes occur along Hwy. 36, Main Street and Owens Street N./Greeley Street S.

Some of the proposed changes include lowering speed limits to 25 miles per hour along Boutwell Road N./80th Street N.; on some downtown streets; and on Curve Crest Boulevard and the Hwy. 36 frontage road between Greeley Street S. and Stillwater Boulevard.

The city report included analysis from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Transportation Safety Board that said a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling 30 miles an hour is three times more likely to die than one struck by a vehicle traveling 20 miles an hour.

City Council Member Larry Odebrecht said he's a believer in lowering the speed limits, adding that he drove on White Pine Way in the Millbrook neighborhood recently when a child ran across the street in front of his car. He was traveling slower, but if he had been driving 30 miles an hour, he might have hit the child, he said.

Matt McKinney

Four historical societies in Lake Minnetonka-area cities are set to merge later this year, with the aim of eventually sharing archive space and hiring staff — and returning the streetcar boat Minnehaha to service on the lake.

The Excelsior-Lake Minnetonka Historical Society, Museum of Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata Historical Society and Westonka Historical Society will become the Lake Minnetonka Historical Society on Oct. 1. The new organization will be dedicated to the history of the lake in the cities of Deephaven, Excelsior, Greenwood, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, Minnetrista, Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Victoria, Wayzata and Woodland.

A 2019 grant the four historical groups won from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund paid for consultants who recommended consolidation, according to a news release.

Though the organizations are eyeing consolidation of their archives, they are looking to keep current museum spaces in Excelsior, Mound and Wayzata.

Josie Albertson-Grove

Pizzerias in big cities on the East and West coasts dominated Food & Wine magazine editor's choices this year for the best pies in the country.

But ranking No. 4 on the list of 28 is the small, but popular Pig Ate My Pizza inside Nouvelle Brewing at 4124 W. Broadway in Robbinsdale.

"This small-batch brewery in a suburb just outside Minneapolis pulls off its funky, unorthodox pies with brio," the magazine wrote of pizzas crafted by the chef-owners of the renowned Travail Kitchen and Amusements. "Toppings range from chicken tikka masala and tomato curry to crushed Doritos."

As for the shout-out, "we're so honored to be included," the eatery posted on its Facebook page. "Pretty epic start to our summer."

Tim Harlow