Rock County roads among worst in state

By 2019 road conditions in southwest Minnesota will be the state’s worst.
That’s according to Rhonda Allis of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
Allis, a principal planner for MnDOT’s District 7, presented that information and the district’s 10-year road improvement plan to Rock County Commissioners at their July 19 meeting.
This is the first year a MnDOT representative visited each of the 13 counties in District 7, she said.
Previously representatives visited only counties with pending state road projects.
District 7 includes the counties of Rock, Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Fairbault, Jackson, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Nobles, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan.
There are eight MnDOT districts in the state.
 
Highway 75 slated for improvement in eight years
MnDOT releases its 10-year work plans each May. The plan’s first four years are known projects with the final six years identifying proposed projects, Allis said.
From 2017 through 2020, there are about 40 projects scheduled for District 7.
For Rock County two state road projects are planned (both on Interstate 90) in 2017 and in 2018.
Interstate 90 will also see possible work projects in 2021, 2024 and 2026.
Road improvements on Rock County’s main north-south thoroughfare (U.S. Highway 75) are not proposed until 2024.
Allis said all proposed projects could move forward or backward in the 10-year plan’s timeline based on usage numbers and the state’s annual budget dollars.
“Pavement conditions drive our dollars,” she said. “They (state MnDOT officials) are going to filter more monies to that district and maybe less will come to our district.”
District 7 currently receives about $40 million annually in dedicated funds from the state legislature.
In recent years expansion of the district’s highway corridors has taken the majority of district’s annual budget allocations, Allis said. The expansion completions of highways 14 and 60 in the next couple of years means more monies for improving existing roads.
“We have a lot of catch-up in District 7,” Allis said.
 
More than 28 percent of roads rated ‘poor’ by 2019
State officials predict by 2019 District 7 will rank the highest on MnDOT’s “poor” ride quality index (non-National Highway System funding) when compared to the other districts in the state.
The ride index also drives where state dollars are allocated each year.
“We are required statewide to have less than 10 percent of our pavements in poor condition,” Allis said.
Currently, the state is at 10.2 percent.
In District 7 9.8 percent of the roads rated poor currently. Other districts’ rankings range from 0.3 (District 4 — Moorhead) to 12.9 percent (District 1 — Duluth).
By 2019, however, based on transportation funding staying at the same level, 16.7 percent of the state’s roads are predicted to be poor.
In the same time period, because District 7 has allocated monies toward expansions for several years rather than repairs, its poor road index jumps to 28.4 percent.
This percentage is more than twice that of any other district and stays at a similar level (26 percent) through 2025 while the state’s index drops to 11.2 percent.
 
North Hwy. 75 needs complete reconstruction
Allis said the state’s materials office reviews the state’s roadways and determines improvements and its costs.
“This (North Highway 75) project is interesting,” she said.
While officials recommend a medium mill and overlay improvement on South Highway 75 from the I-90 south of Luverne to the Iowa border, North Highway 75 from Luverne to the county line is recommended for a total reconstruction.
Cost is estimated at $73 million.
Allis said since the district’s annual budget is only $40 million, a less costly repair such as a bonded overlay project would be the recommendation on North Highway 75 instead, based on current funding levels.