County Road 75 and Highway 23 Road Updates in Central MN
The County Road 75/2nd Street road work continues. Stearns County Commissioner Joe Perske joined me on WJON for an update on the project. He says the south side of the road is mostly complete (east bound traffic) with striping happening this week. Perske explains as soon as the south side is all done crews will move to ripping up the old asphalt on the north side of the road (west bound traffic) and replacing it with a new layer.
Perske acknowledges road work can be frustrating and says he's received many calls on the County Road 75 work. Perske says moving to one lane of traffic open on each side is better than closing off the road completely especially for the businesses along that stretch of road. He says they are trying to get all the paving done at night to reduce the impact on traffic. Perske expects this project to be done in October.
Highway 23 between Richmond and Paynesville continues to be under construction. Perske says that portion of the project is expected to be completed this fall. He says the portion of the project to move Highway 23 from 2 lanes to four lanes from Paynesville to New London will be completed in 2024. Perske says at that point drivers will be able to go from St. Cloud to Willmar with 4 lanes the whole way. He says four lanes of traffic will greatly reduce accidents in those areas.
Commissioner Perske also discusses the opening of the 5-points road with the addition of a round-about and the adjustment to Town Line road north of Sartell. He says $7.5 Million has been allocated for that project. If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Joe Perske it is available below.