MnDOT makes changes to allow more Hwy. 61 business access

Homes will have to be removed to allow for roundabout

By John McLoone
Posted 6/8/23

Hastings residents gave their input on the proposed plans for the Hwy. 61 redevelopment, slated for 2027, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) listened.

Bryant Ficek, Area …

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MnDOT makes changes to allow more Hwy. 61 business access

Homes will have to be removed to allow for roundabout

Posted

Hastings residents gave their input on the proposed plans for the Hwy. 61 redevelopment, slated for 2027, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) listened.

Bryant Ficek, Area Engineer for MnDOT, gave a presentation to the Hastings City Council Monday of changes to plans presented in the spring for the $30 million project designed to make traffic flow more smoothly and safely on the busy corridor.

Following the presentation, the city council unanimously approved a resolution in support of the MnDOT planning, allowing for project consultants to work to seek grant funding to help pay for the new roadway.

Hwy. 61 is slated to be rebuilt from 4th Street to 36th Street, with full-sized roundabouts at Hwy. 316 and 36th Street.

Ficek said the rebuild is critical to make travel on the corridor safer. He said the “crash index” is nearly double what MnDOT considers safe. Also, travel time southbound on Hwy. 61 would jump to more than 20 minutes to drive the length of the road by 2040 if nothing is done, compared to less than five minutes now.

Changes to the project include:

  • In the downtown district, the right turn lane from the southbound lane of the bridge will be added back to allow traffic to turn onto 3rd Street to get downtown.
  • Concerns about on-street parking being removed will be addressed by the city trying to provide nearby parking.
  • In the Midtown district, 10th Street will remain open, but for westbound traffic only to alleviate concerns of residents who live on 9th Street.
  • The initial proposal called for right turns only in the Midtown district, meaning access to business would have been difficult. Ficek said several turn lanes are being added to allow access to business turning left.
  • A couple homes on the west side of Hwy. 61 will have to be demolished to make room for the roundabout at Hwy. 316. The roundabout is two full lanes, and as it’s designed, it cuts into the properties.

“It gets really close to homes in this area,” Ficek said. “Moving forward with this roundabout, we would not want these homes in this area.”

He said MnDOT has already met with homeowners, whose properties would be purchased as part of the project.

“We did our best to make sure those residents know what’s coming forward,” he said.

He shared that a video corridor simulation is being produced to give the community a better idea of what the new roadway will look like.

Ficek said MnDOT worked hard to reach out to businesses, community groups and residents to get input on the plans. He said extensive input was received.

“There was definitely some things brought up for us to think about,” he said of the citizen engagement. “Sometimes it caused us to go back and reanalyze something. We took that information back. We didn’t just stick with what we had. We reevaluated.”

Councilmembers were appreciative of the MnDOT efforts.

“I would like to thank you for being so engaged with our business community,” said Tina Folch.