County: Will Highway 75 last another four years?

North Highway 75 from Luverne to the county line is scheduled for reconstruction in the summer of 2027.
During the annual Minnesota Department of Transportation’s visit with the Rock County Board Aug. 8, local commissioners asked if the road will last another four years.
The answer is maybe.
MnDOT District 7 Engineer Greg Aus and planning director Sam Parker outlined the 10-year road and bridge plan for the district, which encompasses Rock County and 12 other counties.
The plan indicated $360 million is earmarked for 25 road projects in the district over the next four years.
All but one of the projects are outside of Rock County.
“It is irritating and frustrating to know money is being poured into roads that are in much better shape than the beat-up asphalt on North Highway 75,” said commissioner Greg Burger.
The one project scheduled in 2025 is resurfacing Highway 75 from Main Street to Veterans Drive. The stoplight intersection will be reconstructed to accommodate truck traffic. Total estimated cost is $4.8 million.
Two years later, the rest of North 75 will be resurfaced. Work is planned for the summer of 2027, using funds from fiscal year 2028.
Additional state funding, however, could move the North 75 project to an earlier timeframe.
Aus explained that the state’s newly increased gas, license and tab fees could mean more funding for District 7.
“I’m ready when money comes into that bucket,” Aus said.
District 8, which borders Rock County to the north and includes Pipestone County, plans to resurface Highway 75 south from Pipestone in 2026, according to the District 8 website.
Commissioner Gary Overgaard asked why Rock County’s North 75 resurfacing project can’t be included with Pipestone County’s, instead of a year later.
“Common sense tells you that’s the way it should be done,” Overgaard said.
Funding doesn’t allow the combining of the two projects, Aus said.
In addition to funding, road surface conditions could factor into the improvement project.
This fall each road in District 7 will undergo the yearly ride quality index (RQI) performance rating. The RQI rating is an important indicator in roadway reconstruction.
This past winter proved to be hard on most road surfaces.
“We have seen a definite decline in the condition of the roads this year,” Aus said. “We are still patching roads. We would have been done by now.”
Last year North Highway 75’s RQI was 2.4, which is rated as “fair.”
MnDOT projected the RQI will fall to ‘poor’ by 2028.
The plan outlined two other road and bridge projects planned in Rock County in the next 10 years, including:
•In 2030 South Highway 75 from Luverne to the state border and the east bound lane of I-90 from Beaver Creek to Luverne.
•In 2031 Highway 270 from South Highway 75 west to Hills.