MnDOT crews making progress on Hwy 14 expansion

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Crews are making progress on the Highway 14 expansion between New Ulm and North Mankato.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape. I can’t say that we’re ahead of schedule, but we’re certainly not behind,” said Todd Kjolstad, a construction supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “We’ve placed a lot of material. It certainly looks different than what it did a few months ago.”

Over the next 12 months, the 22.5-mile stretch will grow from two lanes to four-- spanning from County Road 37 in New Ulm to the existing four-lane west of Nicollet.

“We started concrete paving [Thursday], and we’re gonna pave as much as we can this year,” Kjolstad added. “Weather permitting, we’ll get at least five miles done.”

The finished product will reroute traffic to bypass Courtland.

“We’re working on the east and westbound abutments right now,” Kjolstad mentioned. “We’ll probably continue work deep into the late fall with that.”

It’ll also have new safety features like snow fences, J-turns and acceleration lanes at higher-risk intersections.

Planning for the project began last year, and crews broke ground in the spring.

MnDOT says detours will remain in effect until the project wraps up, which is expected to be in mid-October of next year.

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