NORTH MANKATO — The fate of the North Mankato section of Judson Bottom Road won’t be known for some time, but the scenic and historic road was heavily battered during the recent storms and flooding.
“We’re planning an open forum to talk about it,” City Administrator Kevin McCaan said Monday night after the City Council meeting. That forum is tentatively set for Aug. 5.
He said Public Works Director Luke Arnold and City engineer Dan Sarff will likely lead that meeting, aimed at giving the public the latest update on the condition of the road and possible future steps.
McCann said the city will likely have to hire a professional firm to study the area.
The heavy rains caused massive rock slides that remain on the road.
The high Minnesota River flows also carved further into the banks next to the Bottom Road, although the amount of erosion isn’t yet fully known.
There is also concern about the rock slides as they came from the steep slopes that are next to and below Lookout Drive. Whether further erosion and rock slides could eventually jeopardize the heavily used Lookout Drive is also unknown.
The Bottom Road runs along the Minnesota River, from the base of Lookout Drive and to the west to County Road 23 next to Judson. Nicollet County maintains most of the road, with North Mankato caring for about a mile or more of the road that borders the city, starting at the bottom of Lookout Drive. There are no homes or driveways on the city’s stretch of road.
The city’s section of road has more steep slopes on one side and is closer to the river on the other, than the rest of the road that the county maintains.
In 2019, after many mammoth boulders and other rocks and trees slid off the cliffs and covered the road, the road was temporarily closed while it was cleared.
In an interview with The Free Press late last year, Arnold described the many threats that the Bottom Road faces and whether the North Mankato section might be permanently closed.
For many years there has been debate about the road, with many who live on it or who just enjoy traveling on it saying the city should rebuild the road to keep it open. There is even a Save the Judson Bottom Road Facebook group.
The road has steadily degraded, with major potholes and the river bank has steadily eroded over the years, bringing the steep bank closer and closer.
Arnold noted that fixing the road and keeping it open would be expensive and he’s not sure funding sources could be found to rebuild the road if it wasn’t built to current standards — something that probably can’t be done because of the bluffs and eroding river banks.