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Highway 14 expansion gets boost

The completion of the last segments of the Highway 14 expansion project got a boost last week with the announcement of details of Gov. Mark Dayton’s transportation plan.
Highway 14, which is a major east-west roadway across southern Minnesota, has been an issue for years. Work on expanding the entire highway to a four-lane status has been accomplished in small pieces over the years with two major sections remaining.
There is a 13 mile stretch from just east of Owatonna to Dodge Center and a 16-mile piece in the New Ulm area that remain two lane highways.
Both of those pieces would receive funding under Dayton’s plan as well as the repair or replacement of six bridges and 40 additional miles of pavement.
State officials say that Highway 14 now carries nearly 8,000 vehicles a day connecting regional trade centers in New Ulm, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Rochester and Winona.
Upgrading the corridor has been a bipartisan issue for years. The Highway 14 Partnership of cities, counties and business leaders of the Highway 14 communities has lobbied for increased funding for the project and state legislators of both parties has supported and submitted legislation to move the project along.
“Expanding and repairing Highway 14 would support economic growth, improve safety conditions for motorists, and better-connect communities throughout the region,” Dayton said last week when he announced the proposal at a gathering in Mankato.
“If we fail to act, these important project may not be funded anytime soon, and the poor conditions endured by motorists every day on Highway 14 would only get worse.”
A three-mile section of the highway east of Owatonna is scheduled to be completed this summer. The remaining stretch of two-lane highway from Steele County Road 43 to the current four-lane at Dodge Center is currently years away from completion as the right-of-way for the new path of the road south of Claremont has not been obtained although it is under way and the complete funding for it has not been determined.
Without additional dollars committed to the project, state officials have said, it could be another 20 years before it is completed.
Dayton’s office and the Minnesota Department of Transportation are estimating that if the additional funding is approved construction could begin within three to six years.
“After decades of decline, the governor’s transportation proposal would make needed safety and mobility improvements along the Highway 14 corridor,” said Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle. “The governor’s proposal would reduce travel times for motorists improve safety and build a more modern transportation system that would meet the needs of this region.”
In addition to the expansion to a four-lane, Dayton’s proposal is also including improvements to the current surface of the four-lane roadway on a 1.8 mile stretch of roadway through Kasson and seven miles of roadway surface in Olmsted County.
Also improved, Zelle said, would be five bridges in Blue Earth County, a bridge in Winona County and roadway surfaces in Lincoln, Nicollet and Redwood Counties.
The highway has received additional funding in recent legislative sessions through the Corridors of Commerce program. In both the 2013 and 2014 sessions Corridors of Commerce legislation has included Highway 14 expansion and in the 2015 session, legislation has recently been introduced by Rep. John Petersburg for additional Corridors of Commerce funding for the project.
The announcement last week of Highway 14 funding was made as part of the governor’s release of his complete transportation funding package for the current legislative session.
In addition to Highway 14, several of the proposed projects are in Dodge and Steele Counties.
In Steele County, the proposed projects include bridge repairs on CSAH 31 over Interstate 35 and MSAS 128 over I35 and two bridges on Interstate 35 over the Union Pacific railroad tracks.
Additional Dodge County projects include two bridges on Highway 57, one over Milliken Creek and one over the Zumbro River.
 
* Between 2004 and 2013 there were 197 crashes on the stretch of Highway 14 between Owatonna and Dodge Center and eight of those had fatalities. Highway 14 has the highest fatal and serious injury rate of any two-lane road in Minnesota.

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