9 minute read
The Journey Down Highway 14
State Sen. John Jasinski (third from left) is joined by Gov. Tim Walz, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, Minnesota state representatives, MnDOT personnel and members of the upcoming construction project for the Highway 14 expansion project groundbreaking ceremony. The event took place in Claremont in November. (People’s Press le photo)
By ANNIE GRANLUND agranlund@owatonna.com
said Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault, whose district includes the stretch of highway from Owatonna to Dodge Center and who has been undoubtedly one of the loudest voices during the past two years in securing funding for the project. “I never knew if it was ever going to come to reality or not.”
While the expansion of Highway 14 from two lanes to four has been a hot topic for several decades, it was in the spring of 2018 that a new re seemed to be lit under the feet of local legislators, residents, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The year prior, Jasinski authored a bill that provided more transparency to the selection process funded by Corridors of Commerce, as well as implementing scoring mechanisms and regional balance between the metro and outstate Minnesota.
A ‘kick in the teeth’
Jasinski
Walz
One month before the funding was secured for the 13-mile stretch of Highway 14 between Owatonna and Dodge Center, MnDOT awarded a total of $417 million to four projects as a part of the Corridors of Commerce program. While the sum of money seemed large enough to spread around, the announcement preceded disappointment heard throughout the state, speci cally the areas along Highway 14. The locations of the four projects who received the Corridors of Commerce funding that year included Elk River, Albertville, and two other projects in the metro district, making all four projects selected within 40 miles of downtown Minneapolis.
“It’s a kick in the teeth for Greater Minnesota,” said Kevin Raney, the vice president of the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership and a member of Owatonna City Council, the day following MnDOT’s announcement in 2018. “I don’t know how MnDOT can spin it that this is good for Greater Minnesota. Clearly Greater Minnesota lost today.”
Jasinski agreed with Raney’s statements, adding that MnDOT interpreted his bill that called for transparency and regional balance in a way that still heavily favored the metro area of the state. Other prominent leaders throughout Minnesota echoed Jasinski and Raney further in agreement.
“Corridors of Commerce was clearly designed to be a statewide program aimed at connecting regional corridors to one another and to the metro area,” said Dave Smiglewski, the then-president of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, in a statement. “There is far more to Minnesota than a 40-mile radius around U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, but you certainly wouldn’t know that from looking at the 2018 awards.” Raney
The new four-lanes of Highway 14 will run parallel to the Canadian Paci c Railroad on the south side. (Source: Minnesota Department of Transportation)
Jasinski made it well known, however, that what he considered to be a mistake by the Corridors of Commerce program wasn’t going to discourage him, reiterating that Highway 14 was his priority and would remain as such until the expansion to four-lanes was complete.
Getting done because of collaboration
He became one step closer to his goal less than a month later when Gov. Mark Dayton signed the bonding bill which included complete funding for the expansion of Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center, a nearly $108 million construction project.
Rep. John Petersburg, R-Waseca, whose district also includes Owatonna and whom Jasinski credits for being his partner in the House in pushing Highway 14 forward, stated that Highway 14 will become the only four-lane corridor that will go between metropolitan areas in the state that doesn’t also cross the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, making it all the more crucial for southern Minnesota’s safety, infrastructure, and economy.
Steele County Free Fair August 18-23
More than a year after the funding was secured by the state, the ground was broken and the project of expanding the 13-miles of Highway 14 from Owatonna to Dodge Center from two-lanes to four of cially began on Nov. 1. The ceremonial groundbreaking was attended by an elite mix of people who have long supported the campaign, including a wide variety of politicians such as Owatonna Mayor Tom Kuntz, U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, and Gov. Tim Walz. Walz represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District for 12 years before being elected as governor in 2018 and was a strong advocate from Washington, D.C. in the Highway 14 expansion efforts.
“Mayor Tom Kuntz and I were just reminiscing with Sen. Jasinski that it feels like we’ve raised our children since being on this issue,” Walz said during the groundbreaking ceremony in November, which took place in Claremont alongside the highway where the four lanes currently merge into two. “This has gone on for decades and it is a testament to the mayors along this corridor and the Highway 14 Coalition.”
“It speaks to the strong voice that southern Minnesota has, the importance of this part of this state to our state’s entire economy, and an understanding that this is economic growth, that the major employers who are supportive of this project have been there all the way,” Walz continued. “This highway is getting done and it’s getting done because of collaboration.” Celebrating the funding for the Highway 14 expansion in May 2018 were, from left to right, Sen. Dave Senjem, R-Rochester; Rep. John Petersburg, R-Waseca; Rep. Brian Daniels, R-Faribault; Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson; Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault; Sen. Carla Nelson, R-Rochester; Kevin Raney, vice-chair of the Highway 14 Partnership and Owatonna City Councilor; and Rep. Dave Quam, R-Byron. (Press le photo)
Economic growth, safety
The impact the expansion will have on area industries, businesses, and the overall economy was one of the main reasons many believed the project was a shoo-in for the 2018 Corridors of Commerce funding. Raney stated that every time progress has been made on Highway 14 in the past that economic growth followed quickly.
“Owatonna and surrounding communities have seen industrial growth in recent years, but we’ve only just started to scratch at our potential,” Raney explained. “Highway 14’s dangerous, inef cient stretch has been one of the things holding us back.”
Since the announcement of the Highway 14 expansion, millions of dollars worth of capital investment projects have been approved in Owatonna. Some of the projects will bring big production companies to the city, including Costco, Minimizer, and Rise Modular.
Aside from economic growth, the safety issues revolving around the two-lane sections of Highway 14 took top priority for those advocating for the completion of the expansion.
“We need to remember the people we have lost on this highway - I think there are 190-some deaths and thousands of injuries,” said Jasinski. “It’s emotion for those families that have lost their loved ones and it’s very emotional to me. I went to a couple of those funerals. I wish we could have done this earlier, but I am super-excited to actually see it get underway.”
The nal piece
Though the Owatonna to Dodge Center stretch of road is a victory for Jasinski — with the Senator noting that it may very well become the legacy of his entire political career — he has acknowledged since the signing of the 2018 bonding bill that the job isn’t complete until all of Highway 14 is expanded to four-lanes. The last remaining portion of Highway 14 that is yet to have the expansion securely funded is the 12- mile section from New Ulm to Nicollet. The estimated cost of that expansion is up to $117 million. In February 2020, Walz and a collection of other decision-makers visited Nicollet to announce a plan to move forward for widening that last remaining stretch of the throughway. “The issue goes far beyond just the economics or the theoretical about transportation,” Walz said during his announcement. “This dangerous, tragic stretch of road has impacted countless families.” The plan, as announced, is to take out a loan for $36 million — equal to 49% of the now-estimated $92.7 million project total — from the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA). The remaining cost could be mostly funded by a separate Rebuilding American grant for up to $50 million. If the grants come through, MnDOT may reduce or rescind the federal loan. The state is committed to funding the remainder of the loan regardless of being awarded the grant, according to MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher. Nicollet County has also committed to $3.5 million to the project to ll whatever gap is left after the federal loan. The loan from the federal TIFIA program comes at a very low 1.2-1.3% interest rate. Legislation will be needed to establish a separate special revenue account for nondedicated transportation funds. MnDOT is expecting to close on the federal loan in
As legislators, advocates, and citizens wait to learn the fate of the remaining portion of Highway 14, MnDOT of cially began the construction of the Owatonna to Dodge Center portion in January 2020. Despite the winter weather, construction crews began clearing brush and trees along what will be the new route of the soon-to-be-four-lane highway.
“In Minnesota, we never know when spring will nally be here and winter will be gone, so we usually have to play it a little by ear as to when weather will make it such so that the real construction can begin,” explained Mike Dougherty, the public affairs coordinator for MnDOT District 6. “This is one of those things where we can get everything prepped in advance that will eventually help us down the road.”
Shafer Contracting of Shafer, Minnesota, won the bidding and was ultimately awarded the $107,997,119 construction contract for the highway expansion project. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2022. Traf c on the new Highway 14 route is expected in 2021. Page 27 | Portraits in Steele 2020
Gov. Tim Walz was joined by a number of local legislators, mayors, commissioners and advocates in announcing a plan to fund the four-lane expansion of Hwy. 14 from Nicollet to New Ulm in February at the Nicollet Fire Department hall. (People’s Press le photo)
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