Federal Funds Awarded for Long-Awaited Townline Road Improvements

SARTELL (WJON News) -- A road reconstruction project involving three townships, the city of Sartell, and Stearns County is receiving $1.5-million in federal money to push it over the finish line.

Congressman Tom Emmer announced on Tuesday that the Townline Road project (30th Avenue/75th Avenue) was included in the federal transportation bill. New Stearns County Engineer Chris Byrd says the project has been in the pipeline for a long time...

Going back through the correspondence and just becoming familiar with the file, as early as 2017 they started asking for money for that project.  So, here we are, nine years later, and finally got the last piece of that puzzle.

The county is facilitating the project development for the local agencies. Byrd says it is unique because of all of the entities involved, and the challenges created by the landscape the road runs through...

So it's what, five-and-a-half, almost six miles of reconstruction where we're taking a narrow, poor condition, two-lane roadway and we're going to reconstruct it completely with wider lanes and wider shoulders.  So that takes quite a bit of work.

In addition to the federal funding, the project received $7.5-million from the state legislature to cover most of the engineering and construction costs.

The reconstruction will take place between Highway 4 and the south St. Stephen city limits.  Once construction is complete, the road will have eleven-foot lanes and six-foot paved shoulders. The project will also include safety and drainage improvements.

Construction will begin on the project in 2026, but it may not be completed until 2027.