The Lind Street intersection with Highway 169 will be closed and replaced by a new intersection with a roundabout at North River Lane, about 800 feet to the south<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTo improve safety and traffic flow, a roundabout will be constructed at the Webster-Highway 169 intersection, and a new intersection, also a roundabout, will be added at North River Lane near the Hiniker Pond area. The new intersection is about 800 feet south of the current Lind Street intersection.<\/p>\n
The two roundabouts will provide access to businesses and other properties along the highway via frontage roads, including the existing North River Drive on the east side of Highway 169, and Range Street on the west side. A new street \u2014 Hiniker Parkway \u2014 will be constructed by the city of Mankato to provide improved access on the west side to help make up for the loss of the Lind Street intersection.<\/p>\n
The 2028 project will focus on reconstruction of the pavement on the mile-plus segment from Belgrade Avenue to just south of the Riverfront Drive interchange. Preservation work will be done on a trio of bridges \u2014 the North Star Bridge over the Minnesota River and the bridges carrying Highway 169 over Riverfront Drive and over the connecting ramps between Highway 169 and North Mankato streets such as Center Street and Lookout Drive.<\/p>\n
The second-year work is expected to be nearly as expensive as the first year, but the appearance of the corridor won\u2019t be noticeably altered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it\u2019s completed, the public is not going to notice significant change,\u201d Thibert said of year two.<\/p>\n
Details pending<\/p>\n
The size and complexity of the project is requiring years of planning, and final designs won\u2019t be completed for the northern segment until April of 2026 \u2014 the following April for the southern segment.<\/p>\n
While emphasizing that expectations could change as those designs are fine-tuned, Thibert provided tentative answers to questions from the council about a variety of topics.<\/p>\n
That detour of Highway 169 in 2027? Most likely, thru-traffic will be diverted around the construction site via Highway 14, Highway 22 and Blue Earth County Road 90, he said, again emphasizing the intention to make the disruption as short in duration as possible.<\/p>\n
MnDOT will work with the cities to provide alternate routes for local traffic to reach businesses and neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
Although Thibert couldn\u2019t guarantee that disruption in 2028 will be limited to lane restrictions rather than shutting down the highway, that is the current plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe southern phase we\u2019re hoping to do with the maintenance of mainline traffic and not have any detours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Bikes and beauty<\/p>\n
The two-year corridor study \u2014 a joint effort between MnDOT and local jurisdictions \u2014 strongly suggested that any highway improvements be accompanied by pedestrian upgrades, as well as aesthetic elements, and the project will attempt to accomplish both.<\/p>\n
MnDOT is exploring the technical feasibility and projected cost of a grade-separated path for pedestrians looking to cross Highway 169, which has trails on each side. Thibert said the best option currently looks to be an underpass rather than a pedestrian bridge.<\/p>\n
Civic leaders are also hoping to boost the appearance of the northern section of the Highway 169 corridor because it serves as a prominent entrance into the two cities.<\/p>\n
Thibert said MnDOT will be looking to form a panel of community members later this year to work with a landscape architect and others to consider visual elements that can be added to the project. That team would likely look at ways to tie the corridor into natural features such as the river and the bluffs, maybe the silos mural, to create \u201ca welcoming environment\u201d that emphasizes what\u2019s unique about Mankato-North Mankato.<\/p>\n
Once options have been identified, they will be presented to the public for comment, probably in the spring of 2025.<\/p>\n
In response to other questions from council members, Thibert said the speed limit along the corridor is expected to remain at 50 mph, although drivers will need to slow when approaching the roundabouts. And while he didn\u2019t know if sound-barrier walls would be part of the project, a noise analysis will be done.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This article originally appeared in The Free Press. NORTH MANKATO \u2014 It\u2019s official: roundabouts are coming to Highway 169 in Mankato-North Mankato in 2027, part of a two-year $70 million reconstruction and redesign of the area\u2019s busiest north-south corridor. The project is almost certain to…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":34937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[872],"tags":[],"post_author":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Hwy 169 Detour Likely in $70M Project's 1st Year - Greater Mankato<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n