Staff photo by Fritz Busch U.S. Highway 14 eastbound traffic approach the Nicollet County Road 37 interchange southeast of New Ulm Wednesday. The 12.5 mile highway segment from New Ulm to Nicollet opened to traffic Nov. 21. Truck drivers report favoring the route so much, they’re willing to travel an extra mile or two to use it.

NEW ULM — Paul Platz of Five Star Towing of rural Lafayette says tow truck drivers like the new Highway 14 four-lane project so much, they’re willing to go a few miles out of their way to use it on trips to Mankato for parts, repairs or tow calls.

“We like using the new four-lane Highway 14 route, even though it takes a few minutes more than county roads and detours we took during the two-year project . The county roads and detours had more turns and stops,” said Platz.

After two years of detours on State Highway 68, county and township roads, the new $84 million, 12.5 concrete highway with extensive snow fencing, a number of retaining ponds, interchanges and small roundabouts opened to the public Nov. 21.

It was the two-year construction period with a variety of detours that may have led to the most unusual things about it.

“We got towing calls from out-of-town truckers who followed their GPS for U.S. Highway 14 to Courtland and Nicollet and wound up someplace out in the country,” Platz said.

“People need to remember to update their GPS,” he added.

Trucking firm owners and dispatcher staff talked about the new highway.

“Drivers say they’re definitely glad its open. We’re glad the detours are gone. It’s safer and more efficient for us,” said D & A Truck Line dispatch officer worker Mike Munce.

“It’s definitely a time saver. It’s a nice road. Definitely a big improvement,” said Schroepfer Inc. CEO Jason Schroepfer in Sleepy Eye.

K & W Towing of New Ulm owner Neal Bode said a number of calls involved truckers going too fast in roundabouts and sliding off them.

Nicollet County Sheriff Dave Lange praised the Minnesota Highway Department for putting up snow fences on Highway 14 between New Ulm and Nicollet and on State Highway 15 north of Kimball.

Lange urged motorists to obey, not drive around road closed signs and barriers.

“Every time we have a detour, truckers go around barriers. There are signs out there for a reason,” he added.

Alan Rader of Rader’s Towing of New Ulm said he’s seen a lot of vehicle-deer crashes lately.

“Deer follow their paths in the Minnesota River Valley. Crashes often happen near the Harkin Store (on Nicollet CR 21) and near the quartzite quarry on Highway 14,” Rader said.

Nicollet County Sheriff Dave Lange said his office has been many deer hit on Highway 14 lately east of New Ulm, along the river on CR 21 and along U.S. Highway 169.

“The deer population must be up,” Lange said.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) reports Minnesota’s large deer population makes them a safety hazard on the road all year long. Deer crashes are especially dangerous for motorcyclists–which accounted for 18 of 18 vehicle-deer relate deaths from 2016-2020.

The DPS reports 6,218 deer crashes, resulting in 124 serious injuries, of which 109 were motorcyclists.

To avoid deer crashes, drive at safe speeds, always buckle up, use high beams as much of possible at night. Don’t swerve to avoid a deer. Swerving can cause a motorist to lose control and leave the road or into oncoming traffic.

Any Minnesota resident can claim a road-killed animal by contacting a law enforcement officer. An authorization permit will be issued allowing the individual to lawfully possess the deer.

If a deer is hit but not killed by a vehicle, keep a distance as deer may recover and move on. If a deer doesn’t move on, or poses a public safety risk, report the incident to a DNR conservation officer of local law enforcement.

A deer underpass including a 10-foot by nine-foot box culvert was installed on the Highway 14 four-lane highway project near Claremont, east of Owatonna in 2020.

MnDOT District 6 Director of Communications Mike Doughty said the project was identified by the DNR and MnDOT. An established drainage structure was increased in size to accommodate deer to reduce vehicle-deer crashes at a fairly minimal cost.

“The plans called for culverts in the place, so in discussions with the DNR and others at MnDOT, we increased the size of the planned culvert there to a 10X8-foot box culvert instead of four 42-inch pipes, which are sized so that deer might travel through,” said Doughtly.

“The cost difference was estimated at approximately $90,000 more to upsize. Overall, our Hwy 14 expansion project was a $108 million construction project. To date, we have not seen evidence of deer usage. Monitoring has been sparse, but a number of smaller animals are taking advantage of the culvert. No changes have been made at this point.”

For more information, visit https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/deer-vehicle-safety/