By Lori Ehde
Some fears were alleviated Monday when contractors and the Minnesota Department of Transportation met with Highway 75 business owners about road construction.
Work started Monday as planned, but the detour won't go up until Monday July 22 , and if all goes well, the road wonÕt be closed for more than a week.
Original information from the MNDOT office called for Highway 75 to be closed from Taco John's to Main Street for three to four weeks, cutting off prime summer traffic to South Highway 75 business owners.
After finding out about that plan last week, affected business owners organized Monday's meeting to learn more about the project and to request a kinder schedule.
The first thing they learned is MNDOT's early information wasn't entirely accurate. The project will last three to four weeks, but South Highway 75 will be closed for only a week.
During the closure, traffic will be detoured west at Taco John's on Gabrielson Road, which loops around town and reconnects with County Road 4 (Main Street) near the ethanol plant.
Traffic will still have access to all businesses during that closure, but signs on the south end will say "Road closed to through traffic."
During the rest of the construction period, two lanes will be open at all times, and at least one driveway per business will be accessible.
Business owners were relieved to learn the closure would be only a week rather than three weeks, but they were disappointed with the timing of the closure and the project as a whole.
"I think we all know it needs to be done, but it's a shame it needs to be done in the summer - during our busy season," said Stacy Zwaan of Country Kitchen.
Business representatives pointed out that the Sturgis Street Rally during the first week in August typically brings extra business to Luverne, but the road work will be at its worst during that time.
Duininck Brothers Inc., Prinsburg, was awarded the Highway 75 bid, and Duininck supervisor Ron Shimek said Luverne's project is just one of many in the works.
But since Monday's meeting, MNDOT and Shimek arranged to move the railroad work a week earlier to July 22 so it can be done before the Sturgis Street Rally starts.
The detour signs would be up only during the track repair, and other signs will read simply, "Road work ahead." Those signs will be placed on the four interstate ramps and on Highway 75.
MNDOT agreed to hang additional messages on road work signs stating "Access to local businesses open." Those signs have been ordered and will be displayed Monday.
More than 60 people attended Monday's meeting in Pizza Ranch. Many were upset they hadn't received earlier notice about the road work.
MNDOT project supervisor Ken Janovsky said details couldn't be released until after the project was bid July 1.
He explained that information on the work was still sketchy when the first press release was issued, and his estimates of a three- to four-week closure were purposefully conservative.
Though the road will be passable, some business owners said they were afraid the construction signs would prevent I-90 travelers from stopping in Luverne.
Shimek assured them hungry travelers with empty gas tanks stop regardless of construction signs.
"If you didn't, you'd run out of fuel and starve to death," he said, pointing out that many communities along major transportation routes experience road construction.
The "mill and overlay" work will be done from the interstate to the northern edge of Luverne. This includes stripping asphalt down to the concrete, hauling it to a bituminous mixing plant three miles east of Hardwick, and reapplying an asphalt overlay.
The work in town also includes some curb and gutter repair and replacing railroad tracks two blocks south of Main Street.
Rural Highway 75 will be repaved, and some culverts will be repaired north of Hardwick.
MNDOT's early time estimates for the rural detour were also conservative. Shimek said at Monday's meeting the closure between Hardwick and Edgerton will be for two weeks, rather than six weeks.
That work will also start Monday, July 22.
The rural detour sends motorists five miles east through Hardwick on County Road 7 to County Road 2. This will take them north to Edgerton where they will turn west on Highway 268, which reconnects with Highway 75 six miles west of Edgerton.