Delano Herald Journal

Serving the communities of Delano, Loretto, Montrose, MN, and the surrounding area

Broadway project ready to begin in May



A neighborhood meeting for Cokato residents and business owners along South Broadway Avenue is set for Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m. in the basement of city hall. The $1.96 million Wright County Road 3/South Broadway Avenue project will be the only topic of the meeting.

A presentation about the project, which will begin in May, its costs, and the disruptions it will cause will be featured. Refreshments will be served also, the city council members said at a special meeting last Monday.

Glenn Gustafson, city engineer from Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik and Associates, Inc. of St. Cloud, said the city’s share of the joint project will be between $1.4 million and $1.65 million, depending on what kind of sidewalk plan Cokato chooses. The city won’t decide on the sidewalk plan until it opens the bids, scheduled for March 29.

“I was actually pleased when Karen (Wiemeri) gave me these numbers,” Gustafson said. Wiemeri is another engineer from Bonestroo.

Gustafson also agreed with City Council Member Phil Haataja that it was a “straight forward project.”

“It’s going to be a large communication effort,” Gustafson said.

The council was adamant, for example, that the Cokato Corn Carnival not be spoiled by the construction. The construction phase affecting the carnival must be complete by Aug. 5 or not started until after the carnival is over, according to the specifications of the project, Gustafson said.

Also, some detours will change according to which phase the project is in and some intersections will change from being four-way to two-way and back again, Gustafson said.

Large trucks that aren’t making deliveries in Cokato will be diverted around the city by Wright County Road 31 and Highway 12, Gustafson said.

Council members said they preferred having all traffic, except for residents, customers of local businesses and trucks making local deliveries, go around the city. It’s possible that MnDOT won’t approve such a large increase of traffic on Highway 12, however, Gustafson said.

Project overview

• Originally the county was planning only for a mill and overlay from Highway 12 south on Broadway to County Road 31. The city decided the county’s project was the ideal time to upgrade the utilities and improve sidewalks and lighting, Gustafson said in the project overview.

• Not only will Broadway be reconstructed, but workers also will install a larger water main, 12-inches in diameter, and loop the southern part of the city with the north for better water flow. The sanitary sewer replacement will redirect the flow to relieve the southwest lift station, according to the overview.

• A new storm sewer will be installed in the First Street area and Peterson Park, and will be repaired in other areas near Broadway, according to the overview

• The Lighting Committee, including Council Members Janice Severson and Butch Amundsen, and Kathy Murphy, Amanda Boadi-Aboagye, and Dave Piepgras, selected the Washington Deco Light poles from Valmont Industries Inc. of Farmington for the new street lights. The entire street light project, which includes poles, globes, banner arms, electrical connections and contingencies will total between $60,000 to $120,000, Council Member Amundsen estimated.

The Valmont poles are aluminum, so they won’t rust. The current steel poles are showing signs of rust. Also, the poles, each $1,702 for single, and $2,748 for twin, were the second least expensive. The Millerbernd Trimline was the least expensive, but it had a part clamped on the bottom that the committee thought might get in the way of maintenance and allow water to seep in, said Severson.

Also, there will be more poles than Cokato currently has because the Valmont poles are shorter, Amundsen said.

• The sidewalk portion of the project is not definite yet. The city has three options it will put out for bid. The city will repair only deficient sidewalks, the city will remove and replace all sidewalks with normal concrete, or the city will remove and replace all sidewalks with decorative scored concrete. The council won’t make a decision until it sees how contractors will bid.

The sidewalks included in the project are mostly on the west side of Broadway. In order to put more sidewalks on the east side, stairs and retaining walls will be needed because of the lay of the land, Gustafson said.

• Finally, the county added widening and building more of a shoulder for the portion of County Road 3 south of Klarsyn Street.

“That is to our advantage, right,” Amundsen asked.

Gustafson said, “Yes.” There isn’t much of a shoulder there now, which makes it difficult for pedestrians. He suggested, though, not building a bike path on the shoulder as part of this project, because the road will need to be widened further. It would be better to have the bike trail separate and down in the flood plain, Gustafson said.

• The city plans to advertise for bids March 3 and approve the bids April 10, according to the overview.

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