Dodge Center, MN (KROC-AM News) - Motorists on Highway 14 will encounter lane closures beginning Monday, April 12th, on the four-lane portion west of Dodge Center as crews build crossover lanes for construction related to the expansion project.

According to a press release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Highway 14 expansion project is building a new four-lane road between Owatonna and Dodge Center. The work is necessary for the new road to be prepared to tie into the existing four-lane road west of Dodge Center.

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.

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Traffic is expected to be on the new route in fall of 2021 with additional work planned for 2022 to complete the project. Shafer Contracting of Shafer, Minnesota, is the prime contractor for the $107,977,119 construction project.

You can learn more about the project on the MnDOT website. You can get MnDOT's full 2021 construction schedule, which includes the projects in southeast Minnesota that carry an overall price tag of nearly $150 million.

You also can always get the latest road conditions on our station apps.

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