The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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    Highway 14

February 5, 2008

Future of 14 pondered

Curious citizens ponder route possibilities

By Brian Ojanpa

COURTLAND — As an emergency responder with the Courtland Fire Department, Brian Luepke has a somber reason for wanting to see Highway 14 upgraded between New Ulm and North Mankato.

“I’m sick of pulling dead people out of ditches,” he said. “If Highway 14 is one of the most dangerous in the state, why hasn’t something been done yet?”

In a word, funding — or lack of it — has exiled improvement plans to limbo. Even so, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is forging ahead with public open houses to review alignment and bypass alternatives that would affect Courtland and Nicollet.

Luepke was among those attending a Tuesday open house in the Courtland Community Center, where people could drop by, peruse proposed routes for an upgrade to four lanes and go on record with their comments.

MnDOT officials said project planning protocol dictates a plan be in place well in advance, not only to better ensure go-ahead funding approval some day, but also to enable affected cities to do long-range planning.

That said, they admit that upgrading that stretch is little more than a pipe dream at this point.

Mankato district MnDOT engineer Jim Swanson said the project remains unfunded, and even under a best-case scenario, reconstruction is a long way off.

“Sometime over the next 10 to 15 years — and that’s if the Legislature would decide to do something,” Swanson said.

People at Tuesday’s gathering were mostly indifferent toward proposed alignment alternatives, echoing the words of a rural female resident who declined to give her name.

“I guess we don’t care. We’re just here out of curiosity. And we may not even be around by this time this is done.”

Harvey Hulke, who farms northeast of Courtland, said he and others will welcome a bypass because with Highway 14 serving as the city’s main drag, doing one’s commerce downtown is a hassle.

Hulke said the heavy highway traffic, especially in late afternoon, has taught him to park on the side of the street where his business destination is located.

Otherwise, he said you either become stranded on the opposite side, or take your life into your hands with a mad dash across the road.

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