PAYNESVILLE -- After 13 years of research and discussion, construction of the Minnesota Highway 23 bypass in Paynesville will begin in 2010.
Since 1995, the Paynesville City Council and officials with the Minnesota Department of Transportation have tinkered with a proposal of introducing a four-lane bypass for the state highway running through Paynesville.
During Wednesday's regular meeting, the Paynesville City Council granted municipal consent for the construction of the bypass.
"I look forward to being one of those wide lines on a map because that is what people are looking for when they are traveling," Mayor Jeff Thompson said regarding the bypass.
"We've been involved with this for over 10 years ... but it will be nice to have this become MnDOT's."
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Lowell Flaten, an engineer with MnDOT's District 8 office in Willmar, said construction is planned for May 2010. The bypass should be complete by fall 2011. MnDOT plans to have awarded bids for the project by November 2009, Flaten said.
According to MnDOT's plans, the bypass will detour Paynesville on the west and north sides. It will begin near Kandiyohi County Road 33 and veer north of Highway 23. The bypass will run parallel with Highway 23 and cross the existing runway at the Paynesville Municipal Airport. It will then continue north, crossing state Highway 55 and the Canadian Pacific Railroad tracks to 185th Street.
From there, the bypass will run east on the south side of 185th Street. The bypass will also cross Stearns County Road 33, merging with Minnesota Highway 2, just northeast of downtown.
Major interchanges leading into Paynesville will be constructed at crossings over First Street South and Highway 55. Flaten said during the council's April 16 public hearing that an interchange at Lake Avenue North may also be added.
The only alteration to the plan discussed in April could involve a stretch of the bypass near the Paynesville Landfill. Flaten said MnDOT may need to shift the section of the four-lane highway north of the landfill because the land near the landfill was classified as contaminated property.
Councilman Jeff Bertram said his main concern following Wednesday's approval is that MnDOT work and cooperate with the city on the bypass project "for the good of the public."
"We're the ones who will have to live with it," Bertram said. "...So let's be on the same page."
