Construction may still be years down the road — a road that has yet to be formally identified — but local government has reached an important milestone on the journey toward installing an east side corridor.
On Monday, Steele County and the city of Owatonna announced in a joint statement the East Side Corridor project — a county-led project that would construct a north-south route on the east side of the city from near the Highway 218/18th Street SE intersection to County State Aid Highway 34, also known as 26th Street — has had documents accepted by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
The documents accepted include the Purpose and Need memo as well as the Evaluation Criteria memo. According to the press release, these memos are the first of several steps in preparing the project’s federal environmental document. The final document will include a series of reports describing the impact of the project on both people and the environment, including studies on traffic, cultural resources, noise and wetlands, and how to mitigate impacts on these resources. The reports and final environmental documents are expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The contract for the environmental study came with a $234,000 price tag, with funds coming from COVID-19 relief funds from the federal government, according to Steele County Engineer Greg Ilkka. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2026, but Ilkka said the entire project will likely be divided into phases.
Though this is a county-led project, the city does have buy-in. While Steele COunty has received $3.96 million from the FHWA for this project, and intends to pursue additional grant funds, other sources of funding could include the city and the state. Thus far, the city of Owatonna has not put money toward the project, but has approved entering into a grant process to connect a trail along the east side corridor — wherever it may fall.
According to City Engineer Sean Murphy, there is approximately $2.3 million of funding available from the Federal Transportation Alternatives Program for the district Owatonna is in for the year 2028 — when the project would likely take place. If the grant is received, it will help connect the city trails from 26th Street to 18th Street along the corridor.
The trail portion of the east side corridor project is currently estimated at $990,000, and Murphy said $846,000 is grant-eligible. There is a 20% local match with the grant, leaving $169,200 to be split between the county and city.
However, the question still remains: where exactly will the east side corridor be constructed? As it stands, the preferred proposal by the local governments is to turn what is referred to as 29th Avenue into a county highway — or collector route — and become the east side corridor. There are several alternatives, with a handful overlapping with 29th, but others pushed further east.
The location of the corridor has been a hot button issue for multiple residents on Mossy Creek Drive, Fox Hollow Lane and Stony Creek Drive — an area known as the North Country development — how take issue with the proximity the 29th routes would have with their homes, with some homeowners stating the roadway would cut directly into their backyards. They have expressed concerns of safety and noise for their neighborhoods.
Ilkka has previously stated the proposed project is “not intended to affect those properties physically” and should be able to be executed without getting into backyards, removing fences or power lines, or forcing anyone to move out of their homes.
Next steps
Currently, the county is now working on completing the additional environmental review documents, including the series of reports. From there, the team will evaluate the various corridor alternatives and make a formal selection for the preferred location of the project. According to the project website, that step is anticipated to be completed by early summer.
Following the selection, the preferred option will be brought into the State of Minnesota Environmental Assessment Worksheet and the Federal Environmental Assessment. This process will hopefully be completed before the end of the year. Both documents will be available for public comment before being finalized, and only then approved by the Steele County Board of Commissioners.
Staff with both the county and city will be holding meetings with stakeholder groups during the environmental documentation process to discuss potential project impacts related to the preferred alternative.
For more information, visit eastsidecorridor.com.
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