Progress

continues

on Hwy 14 project

By RON LARSEN

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- If everything goes according to plan, traffic will be routed onto the newly paved northbound lane through the North Garden Street intersection next week, Minnesota Department of Transportation officials reported Monday at the weekly U.S. Highway 14 reconstruction update meeting.

"Garden Street is shaping up for placing Class 5 (gravel) tomorrow (Tuesday), and then we'll be doing curb and gutter (to prepare for the paving). We did lots of things at that intersection last week," Project Chief Inspector Marv Kruger said.

"The cemetery got water Friday. At least they were supposed to, but I didn't call them to check," Kruger added.

The right-turn lane onto North Garden Street is still closed to traffic as "we're still using it for construction," Kruger explained, "but we've tried to widen the lane (on Highway 14) to make it easier for traffic to turn there."

He said the segment between 13th North and 16th North has about a day of concrete pouring to go before it is ready for paving.

"They (Hoffman Concrete) should be forming today and pouring tomorrow."

Kruger said granular material hauled in for use between 17th North and 20th North had to be replaced because it wasn't the quality that it was thought to be.

"So, if it seems we're redoing something, we are," Kruger laughed.

Mathiowetz Construction Company's project manager, David Domm, reported that granular material is still being hauled in for between Ninth North and 12th North.

"We need to have about 16 inches of granular to bring it up for the 3 inches of Class 5 that we put on top of it so that's a lot of granular material. But we should be putting on the Class 5 in a day or two," he said.

Overall, Domm said, the construction picture looks like this:

Because of the granular replacement, 17th through 20th North requires quite a bit more shaping this week.

"Sometime next week Ninth to 17th will be up to Class 5, and Ninth to 12th should be ready sometime next week for string line for curb and gutter. There's some minor shaping remaining on ponds 1 and 2, but it's not a priority right now."

Kruger noted that M R Paving has completed installing water mains along Westridge Road, and "that's the last water main work except for the passenger underpass (which will be done next year)," Kruger said.

Finally, a warning was issued for motorists using the North Garden Street intersection. Vehicles that are stopped for the traffic signal should be completely behind the broad, white lines with no portion of the vehicle hanging over the line. That's to provide clearance for trucks that are turning, Mathiowetz Project Supervisor Keith Olson said.