Hwy. 14 project to start after Heritagefest

Project will resurface road from Nicollet to

intersection of Hwy. 15

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- Heritagefest officials and fans can rest easier.

Scheduled resurfacing of U.S. Highway 14 from the Highway 15 intersection to Nicollet won't commence until after Heritagefest 2004 is history.

"The overlay (work) is expected to start the week of July 19 -- after your festivals!" Rebecca Arndt, Transportation District 7 public affairs coordinator confirmed Wednesday.

Central Specialties, Inc. of Alexandria, lower bidder on the $2,267,783 project, will mill off about 2 inches of existing road surface before applying the overlay on 13.2 miles of highway, Arndt said.

Last year, joints along that segment were repaired. Arndt said the milling wouldn't negate the value of the joint repair, however.

"The joint repair work does not include every single surface flaw and crack -- just the major ones. They are fixed a year ahead of the surfacing so that traffic can pound the material in so we will have good density before applying the new surface."

Construction is expected to take about two months to complete.

Concerns were raised this spring when "road work" signs appeared along the roadway indicating a June start. However, those signs didn't stay up for long.

With MnDOT's Highway 14 reconstruction project starting on North Broadway in May, Heritagefest officials and merchants were afraid the start of the Highway 14 mill and overlay project would make it almost impossible to get to New Ulm this summer.