In a normal weather year, Victory Drive and the Victory-Hoffman Road intersection would have been abuzz with traffic by the start of classes Tuesday at nearby East High School. The reconstruction of the roads would have even been completed before the beginning of Minnesota State University’s fall semester on Aug. 26.
“It was supposed to be opened on the 23rd,” said Blue Earth County Public Works Director Ryan Thilges. “… So we’re frustrated.”
If the traffic congestion is as bad as some predict when the roughly 1,300 students and staff try to get to and from East High starting Tuesday, the resentment should be targeted mostly on the rains that just wouldn’t stop during the late spring and early summer.
“That set the project back substantially, so there’s quite a bit of work remaining to do out there,” Thilges said.
Along with the amount of precipitation, it was poorly timed. Torrential rains hit when deep trenches had been dug for the replacement of underground utility lines, leaving the construction site particularly vulnerable to flooding.
Now, general contractor Dirt Merchant Inc. is trying to coordinate multiple subcontractors to handle the final elements of the project — subcontractors who may be scrambling to finish other projects around the region and state that were also delayed by wet weather. They include crews from firms that specialize in concrete paving, bituminous paving, traffic signal systems, street lighting, turf establishment, signage and lane striping.
From the beginning, the goal was to complete the project in the period after classes ended on June 6 and when they resumed in the fall. That was one of the reasons the Victory Drive reconstruction was split into two phases, with this year’s $3 million portion covering the section from just south of Main St. to just south of the Hoffman Road intersection.
The recommended route to East High, located at 2600 Hoffman Road, involves accessing it from the east via Highway 22. Relatively few other streets connect to Hoffman in the area between Highway 22 and Victory, and they’re mainly designed to serve residential areas.
“We certainly know it’s inconvenient,” Thilges said of the potential traffic snarls. “… We understand that it’s less than ideal.”
The new completion date is mid-September.
“We’re hopeful it will be earlier but I’m not going to commit to that,” Thilges said.
The contract with Dirt Merchant Inc. included some steeper-than-normal penalties for late completion, which reflected the county’s strong desire to have the road open by the start of school. Despite the above-normal rainfall, some penalties may still be levied after its determined how many rainout days occurred compared to the expected number based on historical averages.
“We’re going to work with them within reason,” Thilges said of the contractor.
If there’s any consolation for people who depend on Victory Drive and Glenwood Avenue/Hoffman Road to get where they’re going, the new intersection has been reconfigured with turn lanes added for every direction of travel and a modern signal-light system. So it should function better during peak travel times than the old intersection.
The project is also bringing new pavement, new utilities and improved trails and pedestrian amenities to Victory Drive, also known as County Road 82.
The road was improved from Stadium Road to south of Hoffman as part of a $3.2 million project completed in 2021, and next year’s $2.8 million phase will reconstruct the section from just south of Fair Street to just south of Main Street. Although it won’t affect the Victory-Hoffman intersection, the 2025 project will close the Victory-Main Street junction.
That project, too, is expected to be scheduled for the period when East High is not in session.