Long awaited Highway 14 expansion from Dodge Center to Owatonna starts soon

(St. Paul, MN) – The long-awaited expansion of Highway 14 between Owatonna and Dodge Center will soon become reality.

A groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, November 1st will kick off the construction project, a $108 million endeavor that will expand a 12.5 mile segment of the highway from two lanes to four.  The public is invited to attend the ceremony, scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the cul de sac at 2300 SE 54th Avenue in Claremont, east of Owatonna.

Shafer Contracting was recently awarded the contract for the expansion project.

The expansion will complete a continuous four-lane roadway between Interstate 35 and Rochester and is intended to improve safety, capacity, travel times, and access to Rochester, Owatonna, and I-35.

Highway 14 expansion has been a decades-long effort.  There is only one stretch of the highway that remains unfinished and unfunded.  The two-lane stretch between Nicollet and New Ulm is the final piece of the overall project, and its future is uncertain.  MnDOT applied for a federal BUILD grant to help push the project forward.  BUILD grants will be awarded by November 12th.

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