Officials seek input on Main in Owatonna

Officials couldn’t have picked a better spot to illustrate the need for improvements to Main Street in Owatonna.
From the third floor window of the Owatonna Fire Station, which overlooks West Main Street at Central Park, it’s apparent why something needs to be done to the roadway. There are many cracks and holes in the pavement on one of the city’s busiest corridors.
Inside, officials made a pitch by showing diagrams, illustrations and charts to residents during an open house last week..
“The pavement is in pretty bad shape,” said Paul Sponholz, assistant engineer for Steele County. “If we don’t address it soon, it’s really going to start falling apart.”
Sponholz said officials are looking to do a full reconstruction or overall. However, he added, to do the latter would be just a Band-Aid.
Steele County and the City of Owatonna are teaming up on the project to repair Main Street from Oak Avenue to Chambers Avenue, which is a .79-mile stretch. About 10,000 vehicles travel on the roadway in the downtown area each day, according to Sponholz.
The project is expected to cost $2.4 million with the largest portion, $1.3 million, coming from sales tax revenue, Sponholz said. Other funding sources include local and state aid. Steele County will be providing 75% of the funding while Owatonna will kick in the rest. Utilities and streetscape would be covered by the city.
The most recent repairs to the roadway took place in 2005 when a mill and resurface happened from Oak to Elm Avenue. Prior to that, the curb and gutter was replaced in 1984 along with storm sewer repairs and existing concrete overlayed with bituminous asphalt.
In 1998, Elm Avenue to Chambers Avenue received reconstructed concrete pavement.
The city and county are currently conducting a feasibility study, which includes a thorough review of the corridor’s pavement conditions. Officials are also utilizing the study to identify opportunities to improve walking, biking and rolling as well as a traffic and safety analysis of the entire corridor.
Sponholz said officials want feedback from the public to understand the issues of the roadway and potential problems. Citizens have until March 10 to share comments at www.bit.ly/OwatonnaMainSt.
Citizens at last week’s open house shared how they want additional lighting in the neighborhoods while others were concerned about trees along the corridor.
Officials are also seeking to improve the pedestrian crosswalk by Federated Insurance. Chad Jorgenson, traffic engineer with SEH in St. Paul hired to help with the project, said one idea being tossed around is constructing bump-outs to cut down on the crosswalk, which would allow pedestrians to cross the street quicker in a shorter distance.
Engineers are considering roundabouts at two locations: Grove and Main and Lincoln and Main.
Crash statistics from 2017 to 2021 show there have been 86 crashes long the nearly one-mile stretch of Main Street. Of those crashes, one was a fatal pedestrian crash in December 2020. The worst areas along the corridor are Oak with 35 crashes, Grove with 22 and Elm with 6.
A second open house is planned for August when officials will present alternatives.
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Owatonna Main Street Project
• Project involves E. Main Street from Oak to Chambers Avenue
• Feasibility Study soliciting comments from public
• Deadline: March 10
• Provide input at www.bit.ly/OwatonnaMainSt.
 
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