MANKATO — Weather permitting, Highway 14 motorists will encounter crews trimming and removing trees along Highway 14 from New Ulm to Nicollet starting Monday, in preparation for the four-lane expansion project, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.

The tree removal will have little to no impact on travel. However, motorists are advised to watch for workers and equipment on the shoulders.

The tree removal sites are located throughout the project. The work needs to be done early in the year to prevent protected bats from making their homes in the trees.

Full construction on the expansion project is expected to begin in early April 2022, weather permitting, and will require traffic to be detoured.

During 2022-23, MnDOT will be reconstructing the highway from New Ulm to Nicollet to improve safety and travel for this important freight and trade corridor.

Overall, the project is expanding 12.5 miles of Hwy 14 from two lanes to four lanes to complete a continuous four-lane road between New Ulm and Rochester.

Improvements will include:

• Converting the existing two-lane highway to a four-lane divided highway

• Bypassing Courtland by realigning Highway 14 north of the city

• Constructing new interchanges in Courtland and at County Road 37 in New Ulm

• Constructing safer intersections at New Ulm Quartzite Quarries and Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School

• Adding turn lanes

• Installing snow fence between Courtland and Nicollet

Hoffman Construction was awarded the project with a bid of $83.5 million.

Highway 14

project detours

Full construction on the project will require traffic to be detoured from early April 2022 through the fall of 2023.

Through-traffic will be detoured onto Highways 15, 68 and 169 for the duration of the project.

Detour routes and access points for local traffic are expected to change throughout different stages of construction.

Detour maps can be found online at: dot.state.mn.us.

Stay connected,

informed

Project information, detour maps, construction updates and a one-minute video to view the planned improved changes can be found online at: dot.state.mn.us.

Stay connected with the project by signing up for email or text message updates through the project website.

Information will be shared on the MnDOT South Central Minnesota Facebook group and the MnDOT District 7 Twitter account.

For updated road condition information, call 511 or visit 511mn.org.