Ten-foot bituminous shoulders on Hwy. 15 from New Ulm to Winthrop have been recommended by the New Ulm City Council to the Minnesota Highway Department.

The city engineering staff reviewed the state highway department’s proposal for upgrading Hwy. 15 and reported to the council. The entire report approved and forwarded to the state. The staff recommended bituminous shoulders instead of gravel shoulders for added safety, noting gravel shoulders tend to pinch traffic toward the center line and rock on the driving surface from the shoulder endangers traffic.

THE STATE proposal to remove sharp curves by realignment, and to relocate around Klossner and Lafayette, was endorsed. These actions and the improvement of poor sight distances by changing the vertical curves will require much of the highway to be regraded and surfaced with full depth bituminous pavement.

The remainder of the highway will be widened and overlayed with bituminous.

“This type of construction can cause some problems,” the New Ulm staff said about the overlay.

“Cracks in the present concrete and the longitudinal crack where the old concrete is widened will reflect through the bituminous overlay causing surface deterioration and high maintenance costs.”

The staff recommended existing concrete pavement be removed and full depth bituminous pavement be used.

“This would be more costly initially but would result in a much better driving surface and lower future maintenance costs,”‘ the report stated.

ARNOLD PUTNAM, NEW ULM,city engineer also recommended that every effort be made to shorten the time before construction starts.

According to the state time schedule it will be three years from the spring of 1976 before bids are asked. Allowing a year for construction puts the interval before use of the new road to four years. If the project is built in segments as indicated, the time could be extended to six years or more before is it completed between New Ulm and Winthrop.

RESOLUTIONS REQUESTING a feasibility study of the proposed Hwy. 15 bypass around New Ulm were approved by the Brown County Board and New Ulm City Council Tuesday.

A steering committee formed to guide efforts to promote a bypass for Hwy. 15 at the south edge of New Ulm and a bypass for Hwy. 14 at the northwest edge of the city had indicated last week that the first step should be resolutions to the Minnesota Highway Department.

“I think we as a county should be very interested in this thing,” Denis Warta, county board member, said as the county okayed the resolution.

New Ulm Daily Journal

Dec. 4, 1975