By Ashley Stewart

Owatonna People’s Press

BLOOMING PRAIRIE — Downtown Blooming Prairie has looked quite different this month as crews have worked to reconstruct Main Street.

But Wednesday morning, the piles of gravel, dirt and crushed concrete didn’t keep residents from visiting local businesses along the roadway.

“There’s going to be a point when the sidewalks need to be replaced, but we’re trying to keep them open as long as possible,” said Mike Jones, Blooming Prairie city administrator.

The project, which is a collaboration between Steele County and Blooming Prairie, began in mid-June on Main Street, also known as County Road 42, east of U.S. Highway 218 after the Steele County Board of Commissioners awarded it to Elcor Construction of Rochester for about $2.7 million.

The city’s portion of the project involves utility improvements and a diagonal parking lane on the north side of the roadway at a cost of nearly $1.1 million, and the county is picking up the remainder for the new roadway, new sidewalks in some areas and bump-outs on the nearly half mile of roadway from Center Avenue to Highway 218.

Jones said currently, motorists can still drive on Main Street from Center Avenue to 2nd Avenue Northeast, but the road is closed from 2nd Avenue Northeast to Highway 218.

“They’re slowly working their way down the street,” he said.

And as that’s done, additional segments of the road will be closed to motorists.

The project is being done in two phases. The first phase began in mid-June east of Highway 218, and the second phase began in early July west of Highway 218 after the city’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration.

“The east side of the tracks is pretty much done,” Jones said. “They’re just getting the road bed prepped.”

He said that portion of the project is expected to be complete in August.

Assistant Steele County Engineer Stefan Gantert said the first phase of the project is about a week behind schedule, but it isn’t uncommon.

He said crews are hoping to construct curb and gutter east of Highway 218 next week.

On the other hand, the portion west of the highway, although early, is on schedule, Gantert said, and expected to be completed by Oct. 31.

But he said weather and “unforeseen items” may delay the project.

“It’s moving forward,” Jones said.

Gantert said the crews will replace the sidewalk “right before they place new pavement,” and continue to provide access to Main Street businesses throughout the project.

“It’s a matter of coordinating like other projects,” he said.

In December 2014, the county board unanimously approved a half-cent sales tax to fund a 10-year transportation capital improvement plan that contains 48 projects that encompass 111 miles in Steele County, including the half-mile in Blooming Prairie.

It is projected that the sales tax will provide about $2.2 million in additional transportation revenue for Steele County in 2015, and $2.9 million in the years after.

The county plans on using $500,000 of sales tax revenues, $500,000 state local road improvement funding, and county municipal state-aid funds to cover its share of the reconstruction project while Blooming Prairie plans on paying for it through the tax levy and special assessments.