The Minnesota Department of Transportation is seeking comment on its 10-year capital highway project plan, and this year, finally, the Highway 14 improvement project from Nicollet to New Ulm is on the list, scheduled to begin in 2022. The $74 million project will complete the expansion of Highway 14 to a four-lane highway between Rochester and New Ulm.

This particular stretch of road has been known for years as a threat to travelers and a bottleneck for commercial travel. It has regularly been on the list of the state’s worst highways. But until this year, it has not been included in MnDOT’s list of long-range projects. The state has done the planning of the route, everything but come up with the money to get it done.

This past year the state made a commitment, with the help of a federal grant, to finally finance the remaining part of the project. So Highway 14 can now take its place We think 2022 can’t come too soon.