It was standing room only at the Highway 61 public meeting last week as Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) officials explained the details of the upcoming Highway 61 reconstruction set to take place from 2027-2029.
It was an opportunity for residents to ask questions and air concerns while the $30-40 million project is still malleable and that is exactly what happened.
Bryant Ficek, South Area Manager with MnDOT, fielded questions from roundabouts to turn lane access to the previous MnDOT project on Highway 316 with the promise of several future meetings to continue communication with businesses and the public as the runup to the project continues.
“This won’t be the last time you see the team,” said Ficek.
The reconstruction project will span Highway 61 from Fourth-36th streets with the creation of roundabouts at Highway 316 and 36th Street, and a new traffic light at 18th Street.
Initially, this project was simply slated to be pavement reconstruction, said Ficek. Parts of Highway 61 are more than 100 years old and have high pedestrian, cyclist, and crash rates.
These concerns led to a broader view of the project, especially with future traffic projections predicting these problems will only worsen.
Currently an estimated 30,000 cars cross over the Highway 61 bridge each day. Those numbers are expected to rise over time, however, as populations rise.
As MnDOT projected traffic volumes along the road through 2040, Highway 61 fell off into failing MnDOT’s standards for traffic safety and volume.
“We want to get out there and avoid this scenario,” said Ficek.
This expanded project is what city and MnDOT staff have been working on for months, presented to the public last week.
For a multiyear project of this scale, there are many interests and opposing tensions that have to be balanced in order to keep businesses accessible, keep traffic moving, and keep residents happy.

Pedestrian crossings, safety and accessibility
Part of the consideration for pedestrians is how far they have to walk corner-to-corner to cross the highway. Currently, some intersections along Highway 61 span 75 feet with traffic coming from at least two different directions, with turn lanes and driveways.
“As you’re walking or biking in there, you’ve got to keep your head on a swivel right now,” said Ficek.
To solve this issue, MNDOT is proposing various medians within the middle of the highway to allow safer crossings and reduce the overall number of feet residents have to cross at one time. These medians will also be able to hold snow during the winter.
“Now you have the ability to cross one direction of traffic, which would be somewhere less than 30 feet and then you would get to the median where you’d have a safe place to stop and then you could move and cross to the other one,” said Ficek.
Another aspect concerning pedestrians is upgrading the Highway 61 sidewalks and crossings to be more accessible to those with disabilities.
Members of MnDOT’s ADA field office walked the length of the corridor measuring sidewalks and pedestrian ramps in order to determine what aspects needed to be changed within the new design.
Finally, Ficek spoke to cyclists’ safety along the route. Cyclists are “not the intent for this corridor,” said Ryan Stempski, Hastings Public Works Director.
There will not be a bike lane within the new project with cyclists shifted to bikeway corridor connections alongside Highway 61.

Highway 55 and 61 intersection
One of the busiest intersections along the project area is the intersection between Highway 61 and Highway 55. Residents are well aware of the dual stoplights that can drag traffic to a halt, especially during rush hour.
In order to better facilitate traffic through these intersections, both will be turned from four-way intersections into three-way intersections so that through traffic will have longer green lights passing along Highway 61.
This change will see the entrance into the Walgreen’s parking lot closed at the Highway 55 and Highway 61 intersection.
At Highway 61 and 10th Street, 10th Street west of Highway 61 will be turned into a one-way with a dedicated turn lane to functionally turn the intersection into a three-way intersection rather than four.
“By doing those two moves, we end up taking what is currently today two four-legged intersections signalized right next to each other and turn them into T intersections. Essentially, you’ve taken away movements from one of the legs that allows that green time to be reallocated,” said Ficek.

Todd Field
A key part of the reconstruction of the Highway 61 and Highway 55 intersection is replacing Todd Field’s back wall. The goal of the project is to reinforce the wall and protect the field from traffic like the accident in 2020 which saw a truck drive through the fence and fall into the field.
“We have to protect the field from the highway. We have to protect the highway from the field,” said Ficek.
The way MndDOT is going about that reconstruction is to rebuild the wall to be vertical, rather than the sloping 45-degree grade of the wall that exists currently. This change would bring the wall up to MnDOT’s standards as well as buy more room for the intersection, which lacks a sidewalk, and has a smaller than standard turn lane.
A consideration for the replacement of the wall is preserving its character.
“What are the things that we can add to it to make sure that we again, keep with that community spirit, keep with that recognition of what that wall is, and not just put some concrete wall [up],” said Ficek.
The new Todd Field wall is currently under preliminary design.

Roundabouts
Roundabouts have become a common punching bag for Hastings drivers, especially those developed along Highway 316. Several residents brought up concerns about the addition of more roundabouts from safety to frustration with their proliferation in town.
For MnDOT, however, those Highway 316 roundabouts were a complete success: “From MnDOT’s standpoint, 316 has been a good success. I know there are some different views on that,” said Ficek to laughter from the crowd.
Project Manager Robert Jones further explained: “More people are using it, and there’s way less accidents.”
That being said, the proposed roundabouts along 61 are planned to be full-sized roundabouts with elevated mounds within them.
“We’re not trying to duplicate 316,” said Ficek.
Roundabout generally are created to force vehicles to reduce their speed down to 20 mph or below which is a feature for traffic coming into town at the proposed roundabout at Highway 316 and 61: “The other thing we liked about having a roundabout there is it becomes a gateway. The roundabout will force you to slow down, get lower speeds and now you know you are entering Hastings. So it’s dual purpose there,” said Ficek.

Funding
While the final scope of the project is unclear, the Highway 61 reconstruction project is currently estimated to cost between $30-40 million.
According to Hastings Public Works Director Ryan Stempski, about $20 million has been secured for the project, leaving anywhere from $10-20 million left to be secured.
“We are doing our due diligence to bring in funds from outside that will not affect raising taxes,” said Ficek.
One resident with a vested interest in the project is Victo Lechner because his house is being demolished by it. Lechner lives at the intersection of Highway 61 and 316 where a future roundabout is planned.
Lechner has been in communication with MnDOT for weeks and has been impressed thus far: “They’ve been very good.”

Facilitating traffic
A number of driveways and turn lanes are being pruned from Highway 61 in order to both better move traffic and improve safety along the thoroughfare.
For example, Ficek spoke to limiting the number of left turns onto the highway from side streets without an intersection because “that is where we see the most incidents, where you’re most likely to have a more serious crash.”
Instead, the design would shift traffic oncoming to Highway 61 to signalized intersections.
“We’re striking that balance between protection of the highway, but still allowing those movements,” said Ficek.

Businesses
Another consideration is maintaining access to local businesses so that they can survive the potentially years-long project.
MnDOT held a meeting alongside the Hastings Chamber of Commerce last month for the purpose of creating a business group that would not only work with the constructors during the project but support local businesses throughout the duration.
Many still have concerns.
“One thing you need to do is focus on actually helping these businesses survive for a year, year-and-a-half,” said Joe Mohrhauser, owner of Fluegel’s Lawn Garden and Pet Supply, at the public meetings.
According to Mohrhauser, due to current construction on North Frontage Road from the central water treatment plant and water main project, foot traffic for his business is down some days 70%.
“Not too many businesses are going to survive a year of that,” said Mohrhauser.

Future input
While the project is expected to run from 2027-2029, the bulk of the work will be done in 2028. During that time, traffic along Highway 61 will be reduced to a single lane north and south.
The city of Hastings is also planning construction on the “Gateway Project” on block 28 alongside that timeline. Between the two projects, the city will have a new look going into the 2030s.
“We’re going to tear it all up, but I’m going to put it all back together better than it was,” said Jones.