Road projects speeding along

Jul. 18—MANKATO — The roundabout construction that's shut down North Riverfront Drive? It's a month or so ahead of schedule.

The South Victory Drive project to repair and urbanize the busy roadway? Should be done much sooner than predicted last winter. Blue Earth County Road 27 in and near Eagle Lake? Progressing nicely.

County Public Works Director Ryan Thilges, even in a telephone interview, could be heard knocking knuckles on a wooden portion of his office furniture as he kept reporting good news after good news.

"Obviously the dry spring really helped us to stay on schedule or even be somewhat ahead of schedule on construction projects," Thilges said.

Road improvements supervised by the city of Mankato — most notably Warren Street and the easternmost piece of Adams Street — are also in good shape to meet or exceed reopening targets, too, as the region has been treated to weeks of favorable weather.

And state highway projects are doing well, said Jerry Risser, assistant district engineer for construction with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Risser has been working construction in Minnesota for 26 years and can't recall a year that's offered such conducive conditions in the spring and early summer for moving earth and laying down lanes.

"I'd say it's one of the tops," Risser said.

North Riverfront roundabouts

The two most disruptive projects in Mankato are on county roads, meaning Thilges gets to hear from impatient drivers wondering when the detours will end.

"Truthfully, people have adapted to it reasonably well," he said of the lengthy alternate routes required by the closure of the Highway 14 interchange with Riverfront Drive (also known as County Road 57). "But certainly the public is ready to have it reopened."

And that reopening could be just a month away — an improvement from the initial prediction that the work would continue into September.

"Right now, I think we're anticipating a mid-August completion," he said, before paying the necessary respect to Mother Nature. "Everything is weather dependent."

While the $2.7 million project has brought delays for drivers pushed onto detours such as Third Avenue or North Victory Drive, the pair of teardrop roundabouts being added will bring quicker trips for people using the interchange — particularly those attempting to make left turns during rush hours.

"And it will result in a safer intersection as well," Thilges said.

The project also includes some new biking/walking trails through the interchange.

South Victory Drive

The work being done on Victory Drive (aka County Road 82) is even more extensive and expensive, but the detour there is minimal thanks to a nearby parallel street — Pohl Road.

"It's going fairly well," Thilges said. "They're wrapping up storm sewer. About a third of the concrete is completed."

The project is made more complex by utility replacements, including large storm sewer lines.

As recently as February, the county thought the work might take the entire construction season — wrapping up in early November. The timetable has improved significantly since then.

"We're targeting a late-August, early-September opening," he said.

County and city engineers like to complete projects on roads serving Minnesota State University before the start of the academic year. But with MSU set to begin classes Aug. 23, that seemed like a long shot with Victory.

"It's within the realm of possibility," Thilges said. "However, there's still a significant amount of work to complete."

Along with improving the driving surface, the $3.2 million project will convert a rural design with lanes bordered by shoulders and grass ditches into an urban street with curb and gutters, street lighting and a new 10-foot trail along the west side.

Victory will be a four-lane divided roadway from Balcerzak Drive to the north, narrowing to two lanes between Balcerzak and Stadium with a continuous left-turn lane in the center. The Victory-Balcerzak intersection is also being reconfigured and the traffic signals upgraded in anticipation of a planned eastward extension of Balcerzak in coming years.

As for motorists wondering when the county will be tackling the aging pavement on Victory Drive just north of the current project, along with the sometimes congested intersection of Victory and Hoffman/Glenwood Avenue, Thilges said it's likely to be added to the county's five-year construction plan soon.

"We do acknowledge that it's coming due for a reconstruction."

Warren Street

The costliest project within Mankato's city limits is the $5.4 million upgrade of Warren Street from downtown to Val Imm Drive, the second in a series of major modernization projects on city center streets that is set to continue for years.

During the first half of the construction season starting in early May, work was concentrated on the downhill side nearer downtown. Two weeks ago, it expanded up the hill.

"Essentially, we have it all shut down right now," Assistant City Engineer Michael McCarty said.

The ambitious project is replacing underground utilities, adding wider sidewalks and boulevards, installing modern traffic signals at Broad and Second streets, and creating a more attractive route between downtown and MSU.

Because the project includes replacing sewer and water utilities buried deep below the street, city officials expected virtually the entire construction season would be required.

Weather has been kind to the project, but pandemic-disrupted supply chains caused delays in the arrival of equipment for the new signal lights and streetlight poles, which could eliminate any hope of an early completion.

"We're seeing longer lead times in some of those manufactured items," said McCarty, adding that the city would be reluctant to open the street if street lighting wasn't in place due to safety concerns for pedestrians.

So, the anticipated reopening date for Warren remains the first week of October.

Highway 60

Problems obtaining materials have been a problem for the area's largest project — $21 million in improvements to 17 miles of Highway 60 from southwest of Madison Lake all the way to Waterville.

"We've had great weather this summer, but the project has had some COVID impacts in terms of materials," Risser said. "... It affects a lot of the supply chains — metals and resins."

In the case of the Highway 60 project, it's the delayed arrival of Styrofoam-like sheets, known as geofoam, needed for the roadbed in certain areas plagued by poor soils.

That's pushed back the completion of the first phase of the project between Highway 14 and Elysian — a segment originally set to reopen to traffic last week. The revised schedule has it reopening by the end of this week with construction shifting entirely to the eastern portion of the project from Elysian to Waterville.

Partly because less of the geofoam is needed in the eastern phase, Risser is optimistic the entire roadway will be open sometime in October as originally planned.

"I think we're going to make it," he said.

County Road 27/ Agency Street

Another route to the lakes area of northeast Blue Earth County and southwest Le Sueur County — County Road 27 north of Eagle Lake — also has been closed to through traffic for a $6.1 million project that kicked off in mid-April and was expected to continue until late in the fall.

The six-mile project involves widening the road and softening some curves near Lake George that will bring it up to a 55 mph design standard, according to Thilges.

"They're on or ahead of schedule," he said.

County Road 27 in Eagle Lake, aka Agency Street, is being reconstructed as well, all the way down to the buried utility lines. The $2.9 million project is expected to continue until late in the fall.

"The contractor got a little bit of a late start on that project," Thilges said.

Adams Street/ County Road 12

One project is actually going to be completed much later than expected. But, then, it also started much later.

The installation of a roundabout at Adams Street and County Road 12 was originally slated to start early in the construction season and be completed by early July.

Instead, it didn't start until early July and is to be completed by Sept. 1, McCarty said. That revised schedule was at the request of the contractor, who is also the contractor for a slight eastward extension of Adams Street past County Road 12 and is the grading and paving contractor for the new truck stop being constructed at the intersection.

The delay allowed all the work to be done together, which boosted efficiency, and McCarty said there's a decent chance of beating the Sept. 1 completion date.

"We may be surprised on that one if we get good weather," he said.

Highway 99

The biggest detour in Nicollet County this construction season involves the $4.9 million in drainage, pavement and safety improvements that have shut down Highway 99 from St. Peter to Nicollet since May, pushing traffic onto the Fort Road and Highway 111.

"They're making really good progress," Risser said. "The project should be completed on time, which is mid-August."