Route chosen for Hwy. 23 bypass at Paynesville

PAYNESVILLE -- The west option has been chosen as the preferred route for the state Highway 23 bypass at Paynesville.

The four-lane bypass is scheduled for construction in 2009 and would bypass Paynesville on its western and northern edges.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation announced the decision Wednesday afternoon at a highway taskforce meeting in Paynesville.

"We felt it meets the needs of the traveling public as well as the needs of the city and the general public," said Lowell Flaten, MnDOT District 8 preliminary design engineer.

The route was selected using feedback gathered during the public comment period this summer as well as input from the Federal Highway Administration. While all comments were considered, some weight was given to the Paynesville City Council's preference for the west route, Flaten said. The city has a constitutional right to reject any option that goes outside city limits.

MnDOT was considering five options for the bypass an east route, a west route, a "far west" route that bypassed the city entirely, building a four-lane through town or doing nothing.

A draft environmental impact statement analyzed the impacts of these options and the public was given 45 days to comment on it.

The west route begins southwest of Paynesville just west of Roseville Road and curves north, intersecting with the western edge of the city. Near Stearns County Road 130, it curves east and runs north of the city until it hooks up with the existing Highway 23 northeast of the city.

Some revisions have been made to the west route since the draft environmental impact statement was released.

Once of the major changes was shifting a portion of the bypass near a residential development that is south of Highway 55 400 to 500 feet west. The shift will impact fewer homes. MnDOT does not know the exact number yet, but estimates it would affect six residential properties instead of the 15 in the original design.

That adjustment will also allow for a diamond interchange at state Highway 55.

The revision also re-aligns Cemetery Road to the south so that it goes over the new highway and to the high school. Currently Cemetery Road becomes Main Street when driving east.

MnDOT also will be setting aside land at the highway's intersections with Roseville Road and Lake Avenue for future interchanges. In 2009, the intersections would be built at the same grade as the highway. The interchanges wouldn't be built until traffic volumes warrant them.

Stearns County Road 130 also would be realigned to go southwest to intersect with Highway 55, west of the new Highway 23.

The right of way acquisition process for the highway is expected to start in the spring of 2006. That process usually takes a year, said Tom Parker of Edwards and Kelcey, a project consultant.

The project is estimated to cost a little more than $44 million, with $31,546,000 for construction and $12.5 million for land acquisition. About $9 million in federal money has been set aside for the project.

A resident asked Wednesday if property owners could request that MnDOT buy their property if their home is not within the right of way but uncomfortably close to the highway.

Flaten said property owners can petition MnDOT to buy their land, but the decision is up to MnDOT.

The final environmental impact statement is now being prepared to submit to the Federal Highway Administration. The environmental impact statement will address questions raised during the comment period about the west route.

The Federal Highway Administration's final approval, or "record of decision," on the route is expected sometime in 2006.

Paynesville Mayor Jeff Thompson said there are positives and negatives to each of the routes, but said, overall, picking the west route was the "right decision."

Now that the city knows where the bypass will go, it can plan its development, he said. The decision on the preferred route has been delayed several times since work on the draft environmental impact statement began in 2001.

"The decision is basically done," Thompson said. "Now we can get on with our lives, plan, get working on the developments now."