Highway 75 in Luverne is falling apart, and it will likely require a structural rebuild to bring it up to acceptable standards.
That was the general consensus at a meeting of local leaders and state transportation officials Tuesday, but funding isn’t available to do it.
In fact a Band-Aid “milling and filling” this summer will be necessary to carry the crumbling road through to 2025 when it’s scheduled for a mill off and overlay from I-90 to Trosky.
Starting in July, crews will work on Highway 75 between Main Street and Veterans Drive, milling off the worst spots just enough to level the surface. The end result will be long asphalt patches on the driving lanes only.
“We call these emergency repairs,” said Greg Ous, District 7 engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. “It gets us a little bit of time before our 2025 project.”
He agreed it would be more prudent to invest in the big project now, instead of putting resources into interim repairs, but he said the budget doesn’t allow it.
Paying the estimated $150,000 to $200,000 for the temporary fix is better than paying labor costs of repeated maintenance work whenever another piece of the road surface becomes a hazard.
“We still have to concentrate on getting ready for 2025 in town,” Ous said. “I want to make an investment now that will get us to that point.”
Late in April, MNDOT staff traveled Highway 75 in a van outfitted with equipment that evaluates road conditions based on seismic graphs, laser readings and other measurements.
The data from that reading won’t be available for several months, but Ous said the appearance of the road — and his own maintenance crews — tell him there are potential hazards for motorcycles and even car tires.
“There’s something going on in the sub-concrete; some of the joints are going up, some are going down, one wheel path is going up, one down … It’s not safe for us, and it’s not safe for you,” he said.
“Instead of following the natural path, traffic is moving over because the original path is so rough. And if that keeps happening, the whole works is going to go.”
The longer Highway 75 in Luverne is neglected, the faster it deteriorates, which is why Ous said he’s bracing for the possibility of a reconstruction in 2025, rather than the planned mill-off and overlay.
A “mill and overlay” is a street maintenance technique that grinds off the top layer (2 to 3 inches) in a large milling machine and a new layer of bituminous pavement is put in its place.
The 2025 project is estimated to cost $3.3 million for the 2-mile section in Luverne and $3.8 million for the 15-mile rural portion.
A reconstruction would mean rebuilding the road with new base materials and an 8-inch cement overlay on top of the base at an estimated $6 million per mile in town.
At a meeting with MNDOT last fall in Luverne, city engineer Gary Kurth said Highway 75 hasn’t been rebuilt since its initial construction.
“The 1930s concrete is disintegrating,” he said. “There isn’t much base there anymore.”
Ous said on Tuesday that core samples of the existing pavement will be taken in order to gauge the condition of the road’s base.
“That will be very telling,” he said. “If it comes back that it’s badly deteriorated — and I think it is — that might change our plans.”
A rebuild might become an only option, despite lack of funds — which would have to come from money designated for other projects in other communities.
“It’s our dilemma,” Ous said. “We have these conversations all over the district.”
Baustian said the city has been preparing for a Highway 75 project by using televised scopes to check on underground infrastructure.
“We’ll do whatever we can to lean forward and be ready sooner than later,” he said.
Gas tax increase
Tuesday’s discussion drifted briefly to the merits of increasing Minnesota’s gas tax.
The Rock County Board opted not to support a resolution urging a gas tax increase, because the proposed increase wouldn’t be enough to make a difference.
“Transportation needs to be a priority at the state level within the regular funding streams,” said County Administrator Kyle Oldre.
“And now they’re talking about pulling the automobile tax into the general fund. That’s idiotic.”
With the current proposal, 7 cents out of the proposed 20-cent gas tax increase would cover the portion of auto parts sales tax that was shifted to transportation back to the general fund.
In the end, District 7’s portion of increased gas tax revenue is estimated at roughly $2 to $3 million per year, which isn’t enough to cover Luverne’s two-mile portion of the 2025 Highway 75 project.
Mayor Pat Baustian noted that if the gas tax had kept pace with inflation, it would be a better source of transportation funding today.
Gov. Tim Walz initially proposed a 20-cent gas tax increase, which isn’t far off proposals from other states, and at current gas prices, it would cost consumers roughly $3 more for every tank filled.
Baustian said if states hadn’t waited so long, inflation wouldn’t have eaten away the benefits of the tax. Meanwhile, construction costs continue to rise and fuel-efficient cars are using less fuel.
The result is that aging roads and bridges now have less money to fix them.
“I don’t see how the state can not support the gas tax,” Baustian said. “They need to get their hands around that and fund our roads.”