by Mike Knaak
editor@thenewsleaders.com
The city of St. Joseph will formally ask the state of Minnesota to pay half the $3 million cost of a pedestrian underpass under CR 75, according to Mayor Rick Schultz.
State bonding money would pay half the cost while the 1/2 –cent sales tax would pay the rest.
After looking at several options, Schultz said the City Council settled on an underpass just west of the Fourth Avenue Northeast/Northland Drive intersection.
Schultz said it’s easier to manage and maintain an underpass than an overpass.
The underpass will be about 10 feet wide…wide enough for an all-terrain vehicle.
On the north side of CR 75, the underpass and accompanying trail would connect with the Lake Wobegon Trail.
The underpass is needed so it’s safer for pedestrians to cross CR 75.
If the Legislature includes the $1.5 million in this session’s bonding bill, the city will meet with Stearns County and the Minnesota Department of Transportation and then move to asking for contractor bids.
The orange line shows where the underpass will go under CR 75. Yellow lines indicate approaches and trails.
