$132 Million in Road and Bridge Projects Planned in SE Minnesota

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - Minnesota's other season is about to get underway. The State Department of Transportation today issued a list of over 220 highway and bridge projects that are scheduled to begin or will be continuing in the 2019 road construction season.

27 of the projects with a total price tag of around $132-million are found in District 6, which is headquartered in Rochester. The largest located near Rochester is the resurfacing of Highway 52 from Marion to Chatfield starting in May. The $7.9-million project will include a number of traffic improvements and some new culverts, which will require a detour starting in early June and lasting up to 8 weeks.

The largest project, in terms of dollars, is the Red Wing bridge replacement project at $18.5 million. MnDOT is also planning to spend over $17-million repaving a portion of I-90 in Freeborn County. The list of larger projects on this year’s schedule includes repaving portions of Highways 60 and 61 in Wabasha and Winona Counties at a cost of about $30 million.

The expansion of Highway 14 from Dodge Center to Owatonna is also on this year’s schedule, but only $2 million is budgeted, which suggests major construction work on the long-awaited project won’t begin until next year.