Blue Earth County finalizing 2026-2030 construction plans

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - Blue Earth County is locking in their construction plans for the next five years, and are looking for public feedback before things are finalized.

Highlights for next year include reconstructing part of Riverfront Drive near Summit avenue, highway 169 near Pintail Street and a few bridge replacements including County Road 9 over the Blue Earth River.

Looking into the future, there are plans for roundabouts at Third Street and Highway 14 as well as on Bassett Drive and County Road 12.

That will all lead to a busy few years, as next year MnDOT and the cities of Mankato and North Mankato will be reconstructing the Veterans Memorial Bridge and Belgrade Avenue.

“Were looking at those different agencies, what they’ve got in the pipeline, and a lot of these projects that are in that plan come from that coordination with those agencies and their requests trying to also help meet their needs with the highways that are going through our small cities and as well through the city of Mankato,“ said Ryan Thilges with Blue Earth County Public Works.

The county wants to hear from residents about the plan by September 24; the plan will be finalized at the October 7 County Board meeting.

“We get those comments and even if those recommendations and concerns, we like to address them if possible but if it’s a recommendation of ‘hey this road also needs to be rebuilt’ we’re certainly going to look at that and see where it is within our project rankings,” Thilges said.

More information on the plan and how to give feedback can be found here.

Click here to download the KEYC News Now app or our KEYC First Alert weather app.