Highway 43 off the interstate bridge in Winona. Photo: Google Maps.
WINONA, Minn. (KWNO)-Traffic Congestion is expected when crews reconstruct Mankato Ave. next year.
Some city leaders are calling to reexamine re-routing the Highway 43 truck route to Riverview Dr. and out to Hwy. 61 during the construction.
“The last thing that you’re going to need is all these 75, 80, 100 trucks a day barreling through while they’re trying to construct that,” said 4th Ward Councilman George Borzyskowski during the council concerns portion of a Sept. 7 city council meeting. “I think we should really give that a strong push to get that re-routed.”
Borzyskowski referenced past efforts to route truck traffic to the western edges of Winona instead of through the downtown and said the Minnesota Department of Transportation didn’t approve of the idea.
During an interview on KWNO’s In the Know Monday, Mayor Scott Sherman said that route was used to transport windmill blades that were offloaded from barges last year. He said the truck route is ultimately up to the MnDOT.
“What we have to do is we have to keep presenting that ask and push at MnDOT to start looking at that a little bit closer or re-evaluating that type of a route to see if it would something that would be feasible and then also beneficial to all of the stakeholders involved,” said Sherman.
Sherman said re-routing the truck route would change which streets get state aid. MnDOT says the Mankato Ave. Reconstruction Project will include lane closures, impacts to business access, and local roadway connections.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
