Members of the Hastings Area Rotary got a detailed look Thursday at what is coming for Highway 61, as Minnesota Department of Transportation representative Bryant Ficek walked the group through the massive reconstruction project planned for 2028 and 2029.
The project stretches essentially the entire length of Highway 61 through Hastings, from the bridge on the north end of the city to Highway 36 on the south. While construction is still more than a year away, Ficek said MnDOT is working now to make sure residents, businesses and local organizations understand both the reasons for the project and what they can expect once work begins.
“We have been trying to get the word out on this, ensure people know that it's coming,” Ficek said. “Obviously, Highway 61 is an important part of the city, and there's going to be impacts.”
Planning for the corridor began several years ago, with MnDOT working with the city and gathering input from residents and businesses. The goal, Ficek said, goes beyond simply rebuilding pavement.
“We need the highway to function safely and efficiently, and be a part of the community, not a barrier to the community,” Ficek said.
Traffic and crash data are among the reasons MnDOT believes substantial changes are needed. Highway 61 carries as many as 32,000 vehicles per day through Hastings and also handles significant heavy truck traffic.
Ficek said the crash rate on the corridor is about 3.9 crashes per million vehicle miles. Similar corridors around the state have a crash rate of about 1.8 crashes per million vehicle miles.
The agency is also planning for future growth. Ficek said a southbound trip from one end of the city to the other currently takes roughly five minutes, depending on traffic lights. If traffic continues to increase and no changes are made to the highway, modeling suggests that same trip could eventually take roughly 22 minutes.
That combination of safety concerns and future congestion is driving many of the design decisions.
MnDOT projects are typically programmed five to 10 years in advance, Ficek said, with extensive planning and design taking place before construction begins. The Hastings project is now moving through final design, with construction planned for 2028 and 2029. Some activity could begin in late 2027.
One of the more visible changes will be the addition of raised medians at selected intersections, including areas around Fifth and Seventh streets. Those medians would convert some intersections into right-in, right-out configurations, preventing drivers on side streets from making left turns across Highway 61.
Ficek said those left turns are among the more dangerous movements along the corridor, especially during busy periods when drivers must find a gap in multiple lanes of traffic.
“A lot of people are already taking a right or going around the block to get to a signal, and so we're kind of formalizing that and saying it's a dangerous movement,” Ficek said. “We don't want people to do that.”
The wider medians would also create safer pedestrian and bicycle crossings. Instead of crossing the entire highway at once, people could cross one direction of traffic, stop in a protected median area, then cross the remaining lanes after checking traffic from the opposite direction.
Some additional intersections, including 11th, 14th and 16th streets, may receive other treatments aimed at limiting unsafe left turns.
One thing that is not changing is the basic number of travel lanes. Highway 61 will remain two lanes in each direction.
Another major piece of the project involves the retaining wall along Todd Field near Highway 55 and 10th Street. Ficek said MnDOT studied the wall extensively after hearing repeated questions about the former tunnel that once connected the area.
The tunnel itself will not return, but the wall needs significant work. Ficek said the existing wall has drainage and structural issues and is not built to modern crash standards.
“If you actually go to the wall, it is crumbling,” Ficek said.
The replacement wall would be vertical rather than angled like the existing structure. That change is expected to create six to eight additional feet of usable space along the roadway.
The new design would allow MnDOT to create a full right-turn lane and a wider, ADA-compliant sidewalk. The project would also include barriers between vehicles and pedestrians, fencing and design elements recognizing the historic character of Todd Field and the former tunnel.
MnDOT has been working with the Hastings Historic Preservation Commission, a visual quality committee, the city and the school district on the design.
Traffic around Todd Field and Highway 55 would also change.
The section of 10th Street on the north side of the field would become one-way westbound. MnDOT also plans to close the Highway 55 entrance to Walgreens, converting those intersections from four-way movements into T intersections.
Ficek said reducing the number of traffic movements at the signal should improve efficiency because signal timing can be concentrated on three directions rather than four.
Access to the area will remain available through other routes, including a connection at 11th Street.
The school district has also been part of the discussions because buses normally travel eastbound through the area. Ficek said the design includes provisions allowing buses to temporarily travel the opposite direction on the one-way section when needed, with the district coordinating those movements with law enforcement.
Farther south, another substantial change is planned at 18th Street.
The east and west sides of 18th Street currently do not align directly across Highway 61. MnDOT plans to realign the intersection and install a traffic signal.
The area also carries significant truck traffic, much of it connected to nearby industrial operations. Ficek said access to the mill south of 18th Street would be changed so one of its accesses becomes entrance-only. Trucks leaving the facility would instead be directed through the new signalized intersection.
“If you've seen a truck come out of those accesses, they do take up both lanes,” Ficek said.
MnDOT has been talking with the mill about the changes and how its operations may need to adjust.
Two roundabouts are planned near the southern end of the project.
At Highway 316, MnDOT is proposing a multi-lane roundabout. Southbound drivers would use the left lane to head toward Highway 316, while the right lane would continue south on Highway 61. Traffic approaching from Highway 316 would also have two lanes, including a free right movement for northbound traffic.
Ficek said MnDOT reviewed several options before determining that a roundabout offered the best combination of traffic efficiency and safety.
At Highway 36, the plan calls for a single-lane roundabout. In addition to improving traffic flow and safety, Ficek said the roundabout could serve as something of a gateway into Hastings, signaling to drivers that they are entering the city and should slow down.
The road reconstruction also gives Hastings an opportunity to address infrastructure residents normally never see.
City water and sanitary sewer systems beneath the highway will be coordinated with the road work, allowing utility upgrades to occur while the highway is already under construction.
The Metropolitan Council is also considering a trunk sewer line near county roads 46 and 47. Even if that project does not happen at the same time, Ficek said MnDOT wants to prepare the crossing now so Highway 61 would not have to be torn open again later.
Appearance is also part of the planning.
MnDOT has some funding available for aesthetic treatments, and the agency is working with the city, staff, council members and a visual quality committee on ways to make the rebuilt corridor better fit Hastings.
Possibilities include carrying the herringbone brick pattern seen around City Hall into portions of the corridor, adding banner locations to light poles, using decorative lighting and incorporating visual elements into areas such as the Todd Field wall.
Raised medians may also provide opportunities for landscaping or other features where space allows.
Ficek said MnDOT does not intend to acquire a large amount of additional right of way simply to create wider landscaped spaces, but the agency wants to take advantage of opportunities within the existing corridor.
Some smaller improvements will not wait until 2028. Ficek said MnDOT crews plan to remove dead trees in the Highway 61 right of way this fall after residents raised the issue during the planning process.
Construction itself will present one of the biggest challenges.
MnDOT does not plan to completely close Highway 61. Instead, the agency expects to build the corridor one side at a time, shifting traffic as construction progresses.
Traffic would generally be maintained at one lane in each direction. Crews could build one side of the highway, move traffic onto the newly completed section, then finish the other side and median areas.
Maintaining access to homes and businesses is one of MnDOT's priorities, Ficek said. The agency will also work with the city to discourage drivers from turning neighborhood streets into unofficial detours while still providing reasonable alternative routes.
“We want to make sure people know that the businesses are open, still come down, still use them,” Ficek said.
Bicycle traffic will generally remain on parallel city streets rather than receiving dedicated bike lanes on Highway 61. MnDOT's focus along the highway will be providing safer places for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross the corridor and connect with the city's existing and planned routes.
Ficek said MnDOT is also looking at the Vermillion Greenway Trail and how to create a better connection from Highway 61 to the trail.
The project is now moving toward a 60 percent design plan, which will give MnDOT more detailed construction information and updated cost estimates. A contractor is already assisting with constructability reviews to help engineers determine whether proposed designs can be built efficiently.
MnDOT is also seeking municipal consent from the City of Hastings, a formal checkpoint where the city acknowledges that it is comfortable with the general direction of the project. Ficek emphasized that municipal consent does not mean every detail is final or that changes cannot still be made.
One of the largest remaining questions is money.
The current estimate for the Highway 61 reconstruction is approximately $64 million.
MnDOT does not yet have all of that funding secured.
The agency is pursuing grants and examining other funding options, while continuing to refine project estimates. If the full amount cannot be obtained, MnDOT may have to reconsider portions of the design.
Ficek said that could mean looking at alternatives such as reusing existing traffic signals rather than installing new ones or finding other ways to reduce costs while preserving the project's major safety and traffic goals.
For now, residents can expect planning, design work and public engagement to continue as the project moves closer to construction.
And while a two-year reconstruction of the city's main north-south corridor will inevitably create inconvenience, MnDOT's goal is to keep Highway 61 functioning throughout the work, keep businesses accessible and come out the other side with a corridor that works better for drivers, pedestrians and the community around it.