Highway 14 expansion update: more details revealed

On Friday, KLGR told you that the state legislature had approved funding to finish the expansion of Highway 14 from Nicollet to New Ulm. Here are some more details released over the weekend.

Last year, a bipartisan group of state senators, including Sen. Gary Dahms of Redwood Falls, tried to secure funding for the project. As a result, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has secured a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan through the federal Department of Transportation. The loan will be administered by the Rural Project Initiative and the Build America Bureau.

“I am so pleased that this project is finally going to be completed,” said Senator Dahms. “Legislators from both sides of the aisle have worked tirelessly to achieve this end goal. The final expansion will not only improve commerce in the area but save lives. So many rural families depend on Highway 14 daily, and the completion will remove unnecessary danger from their day-to-day lives.”  

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) expects that construction could begin as early as fall of 2021 and the expected completion date in late 2023. The entire application and approval process will likely take six to nine months.