The TH95 reconstruction project is nearing the 90% submittal date. There are three specific topics that are most important to update residents on:

• A general project update
• An update on the railroad crossing
• An update on the City’s efforts to secure state bonding dollars to ease the local tax burden of this project.

Project Update

• The project is nearing the 90% completion submittal. That submittal is expected in March of 2025.
• The 100% completion of final design is anticipated for July, 2025.
• The bid opening for the project is expected in November of 2025 with construction beginning in spring of 2026
• The construction of the project will be phased over two years
• Phase 1: anticipated to be from approximately Main Street to the Rum River
• Detour: 2^nd Avenue West from Polk Street (CSAH 14 by west Kwik Trip), across the river to Main Street is the anticipated detour for the west portion of the project. (estimated for 2026)
• MnDOT will use pre-project and during-project traffic counts on the city streets used for detours.  The City will be paid by MnDOT based on increase of traffic while the detours are place.  Funds would be for a portion of a future overlay of a new pavement lift. 
• In our current CIP, we plan to reconstruct 2^nd Avenue SW (east of the river in 2028 and west of the river in 2032).  The MnDOT funds could be used towards those improvements.
• Phase 2: anticipated to be from Filmore to Main Street
• South Garfield, 11^th Avenue SE and back up S. Main Street will be the detour for the east portion of the project.  (estimated for 2027)
• Total project cost estimated at: $22,278,652
• City Cost: $4,848,500
• $1,325,000 will be covered by the local option sales tax
• $3,523,500 remaining will be covered either by state bond, or several different funding sources depending on the reason for the cost incurred.

Railroad Crossing Update

• Initial project estimates included approximately $500,000 from MnDOT to move the spur about 100-200’ to the south. This proposal was rejected by BNSF and objected to by Federated Propane.
• After significant discussion a plan identified as “option 8” (below) was agreed to in concept with MnDOT finding the funds necessary for the public improvement and federated accepting responsibility for any additions that constitute improvement beyond current capacity.
• The most important takeaway of the identified “option 8” is that the rail switch will be moved from the northern portion of the spur, near highway 95, to the southern portion of the spur. This means that propane cars will be loaded and unloaded from the south. Specifically, this means that what is currently 6-10 crossings to load cars currently will be reduced to one single transit crossing now. This will dramatically improve this crossing for commuters.

Update on Efforts to Secure State Bonding Dollars

• First, and foremost, it is important to note that the City has received exceptionally strong support from its elected leader’s, Senator Mark Koran and Representative Jimmy Gordon, as well as their respective Legislative Assistants Melissa Field and Jacob Alm.
• Currently there has been a bill introduced in the Senate (SF 653, attached) supporting the City’s request for State Bonds or other state assistance.
• The bill you see here will be amended in two key ways:
• Sections 1 and 3 will be amended from $2,2750,000 to $4,420,893
• The reason for this change is to accurately reflect the amount that is considered the City’s cost share after the reserved Local Option Tax dollars are committed plus nearly $900,000 in hard costs incurred by the City advancing this project over the last several years.
• Section 2 will be deleted entirely
• This is because the City does not appear to be responsible for costs associated with the rail spur, and GO bonds could not be used for this purpose as the City has no ownership interest in the tracks
• There has not been a Bill introduced yet in the house, but once the amendment to the bill has been drafted Representative Gordon has committed to ensuring this bill is drafted and introduced in the House as well.
• Once Introduced advocating for these Bills’ inclusion in any final bonding proposal that is passed will be a top priority for the rest of the legislative session. 

Below you will see links that show the proposed layout of the Rail Switch in “option 8", as well as the One-Page document the City is using to help advance its advocacy for SF 653 and future house companion bill.