Bemidji weighs roundabout at Middle School Drive in highway rebuild

Bemidji’s Middle School Drive may become one of the most visible changes in the Highway 197 rebuild, with city leaders weighing a roundabout that would affect school drop-off lines, commuter traffic and pedestrian crossings at one of the busiest stretches on the west side.

The broader MnDOT and City of Bemidji project calls for six roundabouts between 2025 and 2027 along Highway 197 and Paul Bunyan Drive from Bemidji Avenue to Gillette Drive NW. MnDOT says the corridor carries about 10,000 to 16,000 vehicles a day and has a higher-than-expected crash rate, with limited pedestrian and bicycle facilities now in place. The plan replaces signalized intersections at Hannah Avenue, Middle School Drive and the Menards access road, while adding a 10-foot multi-use trail on both sides of the highway, upgraded lighting, turn-lane changes and realignment of Gillette Drive NW.

For families headed to Bemidji Middle School, the stakes are immediate. The design would change how buses, parents and students move through the south access area, and it would also alter traffic flow for shoppers and delivery trucks headed to Target, Tires Plus, Burger King, Simonson’s and Menards. A local transportation official said the approach should “help ease some of that tension,” a reference to congestion that builds during peak morning and afternoon hours.

The route to this point has been long and contentious. City records show the first implementation plan for Highway 197 went to the Bemidji City Council on August 19, 2019, and failed on a 3-4 vote after comments from affected business owners. MnDOT later restarted the design effort in 2021, and by 2023 city staff were meeting directly with stakeholders along Hannah Avenue and Middle School Drive, then hosting an open house and neighborhood meeting on August 15, 2023. In December 2023, the council approved adding a roundabout at 23rd Street NW and Middle School Drive.

By late 2024, the council approved MnDOT’s final layout, pending a memorandum of understanding, and city staff said in March 2025 that MnDOT would cover 100% of the costs for reconstruction of TH 197 through Bemidji as shown in the final geometric layout. MnDOT says the work will be built in three phases during the 2026 and 2027 construction seasons, with the city handling Hannah Avenue and Middle School Drive work in 2026 and MnDOT taking the Highway 197 segment, including the Middle School Drive phase, in 2027. With construction still ahead, the biggest questions for Bemidji are not just about how the corridor will look, but how long drivers, students and businesses will have to live with detours, lane shifts and access changes before the new layout opens.