Highway 14: one year impact on local businesses

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -It’s been over a year since the $83-million Highway 14 project opened straight line access from New Ulm to Rochester, connecting everywhere in between.

The hope for the highway was to make access easier between New Ulm, Nicollet and Mankato, and local businesses hoped that the now comparatively short trip between Mankato and New Ulm would provide opportunities for businesses and events to flourish.

“We’ve been seeing a lot of people from Mankato coming to New Ulm,” said Sarah Warmka of the New Ulm Chamber of Commerce. “Our retailers are telling us that they’re seeing a lot of Mankato traffic which is great.”

The city is preparing for a busy holiday season, their second since Highway 14’s opening.

Wednesday will see the lighting of an upside-down Christmas tree, a German tradition dating back to the 8th century, before a weekend including the annual Parade of Lights on Friday and Shop Small Saturday.

Experts within the city also said that events within New Ulm have seen a sizable uptick over the past year.

“The downtown Oktoberfest alone on October 5, the Saturday saw between 13 and 15-thousand people, isn’t that just incredible? We were able to also tell that 4-thousand of them were from 50 miles or father away,” Warmka said.

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