Highway 14 advocates renew call for funds to widen critical corridor

It is an annual ask from lawmakers and advocates representing a stretch of southern Minnesota from Rochester to New Ulm and beyond: more funds to complete the expansion of U.S. Highway 14 between those two cities, a heavily-traveled commercial corridor that has, for years, been considered one of the state's most dangerous roadways.

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The House Transportation Policy and Finance Committee on Wednesday heard four bills that seek state funding to complete the widening of the highway to four lanes along that 112-mile stretch, a project critical to safety and the movement of commerce along the busy roadway, advocates say.

"This is a road (that has been) asking for improvements for a very long time," said Rep. Clark Johnson (DFL-North Mankato), who sponsors a pair of the bills heard on an informational basis. The committee took no action.

The bills heard by the committee were:

• HF168, sponsored by Johnson; its companion, SF515 sponsored by Sen. Kathy Sheran (DFL-Mankato), awaits action by the Senate Capital Investment Committee;
• HF169, also sponsored by Johnson; its companion, SF508 also sponsored by Sheran, awaits action by the Senate Capital Investment Committee;
• HF268, sponsored by Rep. John Petersburg (R-Waseca); its companion, SF121 sponsored by Sen. David Senjem (R-Rochester) awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee; and,
• HF2116, sponsored by Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska); its companion, SF1956, sponsored by Sen. Gary Dahms (R-Redwood Falls), awaits action by the Senate Capital Investment Committee.

MORE: Listen to an audio archive of the hearing

Long-awaited improvements are already under way, with the Department of Transportation in the process of completing improvements to Highway 14 in phases.

The state’s Corridors of Commerce program, established in 2013, has provided roughly $74 million in the corridor, helping fund Phase I from Owatonna to Dodge Center being completed this year; expansion of the stretch between North Mankato to Nicollet scheduled to be complete by 2016; and a bypass and interchange at Nicollet set to be finished next year.

An additional $1.5 million in trunk highway funds were appropriated last year to complete right-of-way acquisition between Owatonna and Dodge Center.

More funds are needed, however, to keep the project moving forward, elected officials and business leaders from the area told the committee.

Fred Froelich, mayor of Nicollet and member of the Highway 14 Partnership, called the corridor "arguably (the) most dangerous stretch of highway in the state of Minnesota." At least 175 motorists were killed in accidents on Highway 14 between the mid-1980s and 2011, according to MnDOT statistics.

The economies of cities and towns along the route have also been harmed, said Audra Shaneman, New Ulm Chamber of Commerce president. Additional funding is needed, she said, to ease the move of goods in and out of New Ulm and other commercial centers along the corridor.

Business interest in New Ulm has been dimmed, she said, “because we don’t have four-lane access.”