Highway 14 Improvements

36 hundred people./// the minnesota department of transportatio n has been diligently working to make state roads safer for traffic ?

"*?

"* that surely includes harrowing highway 14.

Kimt news 3's samantha soto breaks down that specific project.

The first year of construction on hwy 14 is winding down as we head into winter months.

In fact this bridge here on dodge county road 1 is one part of the project that has been complete.

The final stretch of highway 14 between rochester and mankato ?

"*?

"* is in the process of going from a two lane highway?

"*?

"* to a four highway.

One of the motives for the construction on highway 14 is to reduce the frequency of serious or fatal accidents.

In addition to the bridge on dodge county road 1, bridges on dodge county road 3 and steel county road 16 have been built.

But there is still work to be done.

"because we'll be cutting thru a new area, so we gotta make sure that those county roads stay connected, and that people have good access to the transportatio n system."

Right now, the route requires drivers to cross railroad tracks west of claremont.

The plan includes a bridge that will carry vehicles above the railroad, to further reduce risk.

And because these were farm fields prior to becoming a route to the new highway, crews ran into a slight challenge.

"they had to remove the clay soil, get that to dry out, put that back in the road bed, so that's kind of a challenge... you don't have that on every project."

While approximately 4 miles has been paved so far, more pavement is part of the plan for next year along the remaining 12 and a half mile new route.

Construction is set to wrap up in early 2022 while the road will likely be open to traffic, later in addition to the highway progress, over 50 new drainage culverts crossing the new roadway were installed, along with 8 storm water ponds.