Officials still hope for work on Highway 14 in 2019

Funding for the upgrading of U.S. Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center is assured, members of the Highway 14 Partnership were told last week, although the exact date of when the first contracts can be let is still uncertain.
Members of the Highway 14 Partnership received an update on the projects at their annual meeting last week in Owatonna. Members of the Partnership, a coalition of government officials, chambers of commerce, businesses and individuals along the U.S. 14, route have been instrumental in keeping Highway 14 before the public and the Legislature. Currently, Highway 14 has been upgraded to four-lane status across southern Minnesota with the exception of two 12-1/2 mile segments, one from Nicollet to New Ulm and the second from Owatonna to Dodge Center.
The Owatonna to Dodge Center portion was funded in the last Legislative session but the Nicollet to New Ulm section remains unfunded.
“We’re very excited its (Owatonna to Dodge Center) has been funded,” Greg Paulson, the assistant district engineer for MnDOT District 6 told the group. District 6 includes the area from Owatonna and east.
There is a need for a “technical correction” in the language of the bill that was passed funding the project, he said. The original wording caused a question to be raised whether the funding could be released now or had to wait until 2023, he said. Legislators are currently working to draft a bill that would ensure the money can be available before 2023. Paulson said he is confident the bill will be passed before the session ends in May but the exact date of the passage will determine when the first contracts can be finalized.
He said he anticipates design work to start this year, construction to start in 2020 with the road opening in the late fall of 2021. Local road connections are anticipated for 2022.
MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher was also present for the meeting and told attendees that both she and Gov. Tim Walz agreed that Highway 14 is a priority. Kelliher said she grew up in Blue Earth County and her family still lives near Highway 14. Walz is a former teacher from Mankato and represented the First Congressional District that encompasses the Highway 143 corridor in Congress.
Among the goals of the Walz Administration, she said, is making sure there is sustainable funding available for transportation, she said.
There is anticipated to be an increase in Minnesota freight traffic of 30 percent by 2030, 850 bridges will need significant work by 2015, there will be one million new Minnesotans by 2050, she said, and local roads and bridges have been underfunded and $18 billion will be needed over the next 20 years.
The harsh climate of the state and the heavy use affects the roads, she said. Fifty percent of the highway pavement in the state is over 50 years old and 20 percent have less than three years of useful life. Forty percent of MnDOT bridges are more than 40 years old.
Plus, she said, the costs of maintenance and construction keep rising.
Raising the fuel tax is one idea, she said, but the administration is open to new funding ideas. Whatever it is, she added, the solution needs to be long term, more than just four years. The good news, she said, is that transportation funds are dedicated according to the State Constitution, that is they must be used for transportation and not for other areas of the government.
“This is going to roads and bridges, not human services, or education or other government areas.”
Shane Zahrt of Flaherty & Hood, who represents the partnership at the Legislature told the group that they are working to advance the bill to correct the language from last year, the construction schedule for the Owatonna to Dodge Center portion and also are drafting a bill to fund the Nicollet to New Ulm portion of the highway.
Also present at last week’s meeting was Greg Ous, the district engineer for District 7 which includes the Nicollet to New Ulm portion of the highway as well as representatives from the offices of Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith and Congressman Jim Hagedorn.