Lane Closures and Traffic Changes on Highway 14 Start Today in Dodge, Steele Counties

Dodge Center (KROC-AM News) - Motorists on Highway 14 will notice lane closures and traffic changes on the east and west ends of the highway expansion project starting today.

According to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, today, the left lanes of traffic will be closed in each direction at both ends of the Highway 14 expansion project. Starting Wednesday, May 5th, motorists at both ends will then be routed into single-lanes traffic in each direction.

The traffic changes will be on the west and east sides where four lanes of traffic are located just before the transition where traffic is on the existing two-lane portion of the road.

Also starting Wednesday, motorists will be slowed on Highway 14 west of Dodge Center, while crews are removing highway marking and patching. Trucks with warning signs and temporary road signs will be present for motorists to slow down through the portion. The work is expected to take one day.

Get our free mobile app

Highway 14 Expansion Project Background

Overall, the project is expanding 12.5 miles of Highway 14 from two lanes to four lanes between Dodge Center and Owatonna to complete a continuous four-lane road between New Ulm and Rochester.

The project is intended to improve the capacity, safety, travel times, and access between Rochester and Owatonna, as well as the I-35 corridor.

The expansion area is a new route for Highway 14, which will stay south of the railroad tracks on the west side of the project, travel south of Claremont, and connect with the four-lane highway west of Dodge Center.

Shafer Contracting of Shafer, Minn., is the prime contractor for the $107,997,119 construction project. Traffic is expected to be on the new route in fall of 2021 with additional work planned for 2022 to complete the project.