MANKATO — With $50 million or more expected to be spent on pavement replacement, bridge repairs and interchange improvements along Highway 14 in Mankato-North Mankato in the next eight years, planners are undertaking a comprehensive study of the corridor to figure what changes should be incorporated in the upcoming construction.
“What should our priorities be for Highway 14?” asked Chris Talamantez, summarizing the goals of the Highway 14 Corridor Study and for next week’s initial public open house. “… We’re just seeking feedback from the public on what works well and what doesn’t.”
The upcoming construction projects include $32 million to $43 million in 2034 for repairs to bridges and related resurfacing on Highway 14 bridges over Third Avenue, Riverfront Drive and the Union Pacific Railroad in Mankato. That same year, $13 million to $18 million is tentatively planned for repaving Highway 14 and making associated bridge repairs from North Victory Drive to two miles east of Eagle Lake.
Major work is planned even sooner — 2030 — on the Lor Ray Drive bridge over Highway 14 in North Mankato.
And none of that accounts for the biggest project of all. Sometime before 2050, the Minnesota Department of Transportation expects to build a new Highway 14 bridge over the Minnesota River and over Highway 169 — a massive endeavor expected to cost more than $100 million.
With so much money slated to be invested in a relatively concentrated section of the highway, the corridor study is intended to make sure the roadway is being designed in the best possible way for the long-term benefit of the Mankato area and for the broader users of a major American highway.
“Highway 14 connects North Mankato and Mankato, linking neighborhoods, businesses, jobs, and everyday destinations,” according to the corridor study website. “Whether you’re commuting to work, delivering goods, or heading out for shopping or recreation, Highway 14 plays a big role in daily trips. Highway 14 also links multiple states, spanning from Yellowstone to Chicago.”
The study will focus on the segment of Highway 14 from Lookout Drive in North Mankato on the west to Blue Earth County Road 12 on Mankato’s eastern edge. Along with the highway itself, interchanges and nearby connecting roads will be examined, including junctions with Lor Ray (including Commerce Drive), Highway 169, Victory Drive (including Raintree Road), Highway 22, Lookout, Riverfront Drive and County Road 12.
Financed by the Mankato-North Mankato Area Planning Organization (MAPO) in partnership with those two cities, Blue Earth and Nicollet counties and MnDOT, the study kicked off in June and will conclude late in 2027. It is being conducted through a $772,0000 consulting contract with Bolton & Menk.
MAPO came into existence when Mankato-North Mankato reached a population that qualified it as a federally designated metropolitan area, and the transportation planning tasks are financed primarily with federal dollars.
The study’s goal is to identify specific improvements that will support growth, enhance safety and provide for efficient travel by all users of the corridor, and it will include creating an implementation plan that prioritizes fiscally realistic projects that will be undertaken when funding becomes available.
The input of community members and highway users will be a key component of the study, which is why the first of multiple public open houses is being held on Thursday in the early stages of the study. The come-and-go open house runs from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the MnDOT District Headquarters, 2151 Bassett Drive, Mankato.
The focus will be on what users of Highway 14 and its interchanges like, what most concerns them, what they hope to see improved.
“That’s what we want,” said Talamantez, a transportation planner for MAPO. “So we can take that information and apply it when we start thinking about solutions.”
Residents don’t have to attend the meeting to provide their input.
“If they can’t make it, we’ve got a website where they can take a survey, too,” he said, directing people to https://tinyurl.com/Highway14CorridorPlan.