The Minnesota Department of Transportation has received a $22 million federal grant for an estimated $75 million project to expand the last remaining two-lane segment of Hwy. 14 between Nicollet and New Ulm in southern Minnesota.
MnDOT gets $22 million federal grant to finish expanding Hwy. 14
The state also received a $15 million grant to replace the Rum River bridge on Hwy. 10.
September 11, 2020 at 11:24PM
The state also received a $15 million grant to replace the Rum River bridge on Hwy. 10 and improve that Anoka intersection, a project estimated to cost $68 million.
The grants, part of the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) program, were announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In a statement, MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher said state officials were grateful the federal government "recognized the importance of completing these projects. We've taken an 'all-of-the-above' approach to funding the final expansion of Hwy. 14 between New Ulm and Nicollet, and with the longtime support of local advocates and allies and this new federal support, we will get this project done and — most importantly — save lives."
Gov. Tim Walz, who has driven countless miles along the dangerous two-lane highway and lost a neighbor in a crash there, was a strong advocate for the project.
"This issue is personal to me, and it's personal to everyone in this area of the state," Walz said in a statement. "Highway 14 will not be safe until it is built out to four lanes."
MnDOT over the years has expanded the heavily traveled and crash-prone Hwy. 14 to four lanes in stages. The federal grant will help the agency finish the 12-mile segment.
The grant will be used to reduce the amount of a federal loan that the state still plans to apply for. MnDOT officials anticipate construction will begin in 2022.
In Anoka, MnDOT will use the money to tackle the Hwy. 10 Rum River Bridge Replacement Project. Starting in 2022, the agency plans to replace the 60-year-old bridge, upgrade storm sewers in the area and improve the Hwy. 10/Ferry Street interchange.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
