Highway

4 detour

to end

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

MANKATO -- There is good and bad highway news in Sleepy Eye.

First, the good news.

Weather permitting, the State Highway 4 project detour will be removed Wednesday afternoon, and the new road will be open for traffic.

Project work will continue after the road opens. Motorists are advised to use caution in the area.

Say goodbye to the former detour that added several miles to motorists south of Sleepy Eye through Stark Township along county highways 27, 10 and 24.

The project, originally budgeted for $3.1 million, lasted more than the original six-month time frame. It included replacement of more than a mile of Highway 4 and underground utilities in Sleepy Eye.

Minor project work remains.

"We have most of the work done, but a few driveways and odd corners are left. I'm sure everybody will view it as good news. We were really fortunate to have such great weather the past two weeks," Minnesota Department of Transportation Mankato District Project Manager Harry Carlson said.

Finishing work included epoxy painting of centerlines.

"It's always nice to get the painting done in the fall so we won't have to come back in the spring to do it," Carlson said. "We're pretty close to plan. Had the construction season ended sooner due to poor weather, we would have had to leave more gravel over the winter."

The new highway is expected to last several decades, according to Carlson.

The bad news is the project will cost up to 10 percent ($310,000) more than it was originally intended because of unanticipated costs of extensive underground utility, telephone and TV cables that slowed the project down over the summer.

Southern Minnesota Construction of Mankato was the primary project contractor. The consulting firm of Bolton & Menk Inc. coordinated and inspected the utility replacement for the City of Sleepy Eye.