Return to Archived Stories

The choices for the future route of Highway 23 have narrowed slightly.

Last week at a task force meeting, MnDOT and the engineers conducting the study of the highway asked the local advisory committee to make some recommendations about the routes. On the advice of the task force, three options for the highway were eliminated, as long as the MnDOT engineers agree.

Four "build" routes - three bypass routes and improving the existing alignment through town - continue, as well as the "no build" option of leaving the highway as is.

Engineers studying the highway also released preliminary cost estimates for the routes last week.

The advisory committee made choices on three sub-routes. For instance, for the west and the east bypass, the task force concluded that, when coming from the west, angling a half mile to the north at the county line and building the new highway in the ag fields by the new airport was preferable to staying on the existing route, which is squeezed by residential development on the north side and a land trust on the south.

The task force also preferred the west bypass routes that go behind the row of businesses along Highway 23 (Alco, the American Legion, etc.), instead of right in front of the school.

For all these routes, the engineers proposed an interchange with Highway 55, and if the new highway remained on its existing route, several businesses and houses would be lost for this interchange. "It brings the highway closest to town," said Tom Parker, the lead engineer for Edwards and Kelcey, which is conducting the study on Highway 23, "but at the cost of businesses and houses."

Instead, the task force preferred a west bypass that would go behind these businesses, perhaps using the runway of the existing airstrip. This would enable the new highway to make a more perpendicular intersection with Highway 55 and to have the interchange with Highway 55 on the north side of the Crow River.

If the west bypass is chosen, Co. Rd. 130, on the west end of town, will need to be rerouted to the west before it intersects with Highway 55. For the far west and the west bypass routes, the local task force recommended that the new highway follow the curve of Co. Rd. 33 at the city sewer ponds and rejoin existing Highway 23 on the east side of town, rather than heading straight and rejoining the highway a mile east of Paynesville.

Updated maps of all these routes are available for viewing at city hall. The next step in the process is to have a formal public meeting, where the scoping document will be presented. This document lists the routes to be studied in the Environment Impact Statement, in which all five routes will be studied in great detail and the best future route will be determined.

Once again, eliminating the far west bypass was suggested at the task force meeting last week, this time by Mike Flanders, who represents Roseville Township on the advisory committee. Ed Gottwald, who represents landowners north of town, said that route would run right through his living room but still should be studied.

"If you're not interested in stopping in Paynesville, this is a great way to go," said Parker, of the far west bypass. "If you are interested, it's not."

The far west bypass would also have the cheapest cost to build, according to preliminary cost estimates done by Parker.

These estimates are very rough and will change, Parker stressed. He said he used actual averages from recent MnDOT projects in the area to determine estimates for the construction of a new highway, based on the cost per mile and the number of bridges.

For right-of-way purchase, Parker said he basically made guesses at his desk. For ag land, he estimated $1,500 per acre, for residences he estimated $200,000 for each (including utility replacement and relocation reimbursement), and for businesses he estimated $750,000. (Flaten said that MnDOT only buys the property from businesses; business owners keep their inventory.)

Parker said he put more faith in the construction cost estimates than the right-of-way cost estimates.

For the bypasses, construction costs are estimated to be lowest for the far west bypass ($17 million) with the east bypass ($18 million) and the west bypass down the old airport runway ($18 million) next.

The far west bypass, at $18 million, would be the cheapest to build, including estimated right-of-way costs. Next is the west bypass using the runway ($20-23 million) and the east bypass ($24-26 million).

Edwards and Kelcey has completed a cost estimate for the construction of a four-lane highway through Paynesville ($9-10 million) but has not finished the right-of-way cost.

Parker also said again last week that the traffic data and analysis indicate a need for this project. When traffic is projected to 2025, the current road results in gridlock in peak times.

While Edwards and Kelcey has done traffic analysis for a two-lane road along the existing route through the city in 2025 and for a four-lane highway through the city, it has yet to do the traffic analysis for a three-lane highway through town. This is being done.

The through-town route would be designed with several stop lights. Though the highway would need to be surveyed for a safe speed, MnDOT engineer Lowell Flaten guessed that the through-town route would have a speed limit of 30 to 40 miles per hour.

Meanwhile, all the bypass routes are being designed by the strict standards for an Interregional Corridor. This designation - while helping this project get earlier funding due to its regional importance - means that MnDOTs goal is to get traffic through Paynesville at high speeds without stopping. All four bypass routes are being designed without any stoplights and with design speeds of 70 miles per hour, which would allow them to be posted with 65 mph speed limits.

The loss of access and high speeds was a large concern for the half dozen business owners in attendance at the task force meeting last week. "When people are going 70 and they're going to hit St. Cloud, why would they stop (in Paynesville)?" asked one business representative in attendance.

Dave Lange of H & L Express suggested putting a stoplight on the west bypass as a way to slow down traffic and better enable through traffic to stop in Paynesville. When informed that this wasn't what MnDOT wanted for Highway 23, Lange responded, "That's what we're after."

Flaten also explained MnDOT's land acquisition process, which would be similar to what was used for the airport project. MnDOT would conduct an appraisal and use that amount in negotiations with landowners. Landowners could get a second appraisal - paid for by MnDOT, according to Flaten. If negotiations did not work, MnDOT would need to use condemnation to secure the needed property.

Typically, all projects with more than 10 land parcels require condemnation, said Flaten.

MnDOT does not compensate for the loss of traffic to businesses, as the courts have found that property owners do not own the traffic, said Flaten. This is still a concern to business owners who purchased their property for its proximity and access to Highway 23 traffic.

Other changes in the routes are: