East Side Corridor Preferred Alignment Selected

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MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

For more information contact:

Paul Sponholz

507-444-7670

paul.sponholz@steelecountymn.gov

EAST SIDE CORRIDOR PREFERRED ALIGNMENT SELECTED

Owatonna, Minn.— Steele County and City of Owatonna officials announce that the proposed East Side Corridor project has achieved a milestone in the preparation of the environmental documents necessary to plan and construct the new roadway.  The Federal Highway Administration has concurred that Alternative 3, also known as 29^th Avenue Corridor, is the preferred alternative.  This concurrence reaffirms the previous determination made in 2023 that Alternative 3 is the preferred corridor. 

With the identification of the preferred corridor, the County can move forward in preparing the project’s federal and state environmental documents which will include a series of reports describing the impact of the East Side Corridor project on people and the environment. The environmental document will study impacts on traffic, cultural resources, noise, and wetlands within the designated corridor. It will also outline the efforts required to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to these resources. These reports and the final environmental documents are expected to be completed in 2025 and will then be made available for public comment.   

The East Side Corridor project proposes to build a north-south roadway on the east side of Owatonna from near the intersection of Bixby Road and 18^th Street SE to Kenyon Road with an extension of 26^th Street NE.  The project is scheduled to begin construction in 2026.

For more information, see the recent project newsletter and the full concurrence document detailing how the preferred alignment was chosen.  These documents are available on the project webpage at: www.eastsidecorridor.com .

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