MANKATO — Tonight’s the night for asking questions and providing input on more than $38 million of planned construction in 2027 by the city of Mankato.
Multiple city staff will be on hand at the annual Community Investment Plan open house to showcase the slate of construction projects the City Council will be asked to approve in December for the upcoming year.
There’s no formal presentation, so people can come anytime between 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. tonight (Oct. 1) to review the plans for everything from street reconstruction to tennis court resurfacing to parking ramp repairs.
The open house is in the Mankato Room on the first floor of the Intergovernmental Center, 10 Civic Center Plaza.
“The CIP outlines planned infrastructure, parks and utility improvements for the upcoming years,” the invitation to residents states. “It serves as a multi-year roadmap to help the city identify, prioritize, budget and plan for major improvements while managing limited funding resources.”
The construction budget that the council will vote on in December actually covers five years of planned investments. But recognizing that people tend to be more interested in what’s coming sooner rather than later, the open house will focus mostly on the projects scheduled for construction next year.
Street-related work proposed for 2027 totals $23.27 million, well over half of the $38.39 million total plan for next year.
And half of the street project spending — more than $12 million — is actually just the city chipping in its share of a couple of projects being coordinated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation and Blue Earth County.
Mankato is budgeting $7.6 million as its share of MnDOT’s $37 million Highway 169 makeover from the Veterans Memorial Bridge to the northern city limits. Another $4.5 million in city funds is set to be provided for Blue Earth County’s reconstruction and possible redesign of County Road 16/Stoltzman Road from Riverfront Drive to Stadium Road.
The largest city-led street projects planned for 2027 are a $5.1 million reconstruction of Long Street and Emerson Lane and a $5.4 million reconstruction of Rita Road. Less intensive street resurfacing, totaling a combined $1.1 million, is to be done on Balcerzak Drive between Monks Avenue and Pohl Road and on Bruels Street from Glenwood Avenue to Main Street.
City officials encourage people to review and offer opinions on the plan even if they don’t attend the meeting. Options for sharing opinions include calling the city’s 311 information line, sending an email to communications@mankatomn.gov or attending future council meetings. The city’s public engagement webpage — everyvoice.mankatomn.gov — is also set up to take comments on a few of the 2027 projects.